
Class JjAgiiLX 
Book. -1^ a 5 f ^ 

Copyright N° 



CdnKIGHT DEPOSIT. 





OvMt4 




a Y\(^iAj. 



JAMES MAHONEY 

1862-1915 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
LETTERS OF APPRECIATION 
LITERARY PRODUCTIONS 

INTRODUCTION 

BY 

HON. FRANK B. SANBORN 



PRIVATELY PRINTED BY THE 

RuMFORD Press 
Concord, N. H. 






Copyright, 1920 

BY 

Nellie M. Mahoney 



JUL 1 7 1920 



ICLA571699 




MAHONY FAMILY 
We Defend Ourselves and Our Faith 




CARROLL FAMILY 
Firm in Faith and in War 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Intkoduction, by Hon. Frank B. Sanborn xi 

CHAPTER I 
Irish History with Special Reference to the Mahoney Family, by Mr. 

James W. McCoy 1 

CHAPTER n 

Old Family Letters from: 

Mrs. Harriet E. Duncan 10 

Mrs. F. E. Cooke 13 

Col. John S. Cooke 13 

Mrs. Kate Gannett Wells 13 

Mr. H. C. Shaw 14 

Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Blake 15 

Hon. Theodore C. Bates 15 

Description of the Old Home and Surrounding Country, by James Mahoney 17 

CHAPTER III 

Early School Days, hy Miss EmmaWhiting and Mr. Sidney Sherman ... 21 

Letters of Sympathy from Old North Brookfield Friends .... 27 
Essays Written when He was a Pupil in the North Brookfield High 

School 31 

CHAPTER IV 

Days at Amherst, by Prof. Joseph 0. Thompson 73 

Extracts from Common Place-Book, Kept while He was at Amherst , . 81 

Letters FROM Amherst Men 84 

Oration by Mahoney on the Commencement Stage 99 

CHAPTER V 

< 

Letters from People Associated with Him in Worcester: 

Rev. Dr. John J. McCoy 102 

Rev. Owen M. McGee 103. 

Mr. Alfred S. Roe 10& 

Mr. a. p. Marble lOI:* 

Dr. William P. Souther 101' 

Dr. E. Warner lOT 

Letters from Prof. H. B. Adams of Johns Hopkins University and from 

Dr. Ira Remsen, President of Johns Hopkins University . . . 107, 108 

Application for the Position as Assistant Superintendent 109 

CHAPTER VI 

Teacher OF History, by i¥r. G. G. TFo/A;zns 118 

Letters from Friends and Pupils who Wished to See Mahoney Promoted 

to be Assistant Superintendent 140 



VI CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VII 

Letters from Men vmo Desired to See Mahoney Promoted to the Prin- 

ciPALSHip of the South Boston High School 154 

CHAPTER VIII 
Retrospect 169 

CHAPTER IX 

Tributes from Friends 176 

CHAPTER X 

Summary of Work in Washington 195 

CHAPTER XI 
Connection with: 

South Boston Parents' Association 201 

South Boston Trade Association 205 

South Boston High School 211 

American Peace Society 212 

Catholic Literary Union 216 

Public School Art League 227 

Boston Home and School Association 250 

CHAPTER XII 

Extracts from Mahoney's Letters, Some of His Lectures and Poems . . 251 

CHAPTER XIII 

Dorchester Heights, Words and Music by James Mahoney 345 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

James Mahoney Frontispiece "^ 

Coat of Arms Preceding Chapter I 

Pictures of the Old Home and of Some of the Historic 

Places which Surround It Preceding page 17 ^^ 

James Mahoney when He Graduated from Amherst, 

1884 Preceding page 73 '^ 

James Mahoney when a Student at Berlin University, 

1896 Preceding page 278 



Compliments of 



mate ^. iHaijonep 
Mtliit ^. iHatonep 



^orti) iiroofeficlli, iWafiJS. 



FOREWORD 

The endeavor, in compiling this book, has been to allow James 
Mahoney to tell his own life story by his writings, as far as possible. 
Who could tell better than his essays can, his rules of life, his springs of 
action — his very inmost thoughts, even, are exposed in them. 

The essays which are presented to the reader are ones which the 
compiler of this work was fortunate enough to get possession of in her 
childhood, entirely unknown to the author. To her they were price- 
less and so were carefully cherished. 

The scope of this work embraces examples of James' work from the 
time he entered the North Brookfield High School to the time of his 
death. An attempt has been made to show, by the selections, what 
was positively true, that every realm of thought and every phase of 
human existence appealed to him. Also to show the broadness, depth 
and originality of his mind. 

The work would have fallen far short of its aim if it were not for his 
good friends who cheerfully wrote of the times when they were closely 
associated with him. To them and to all who rendered any service, 
I hereby tender my most grateful thanks. 

Many of the quotations which precede the chapters were written 
by James. For the most part the others were marked by him in his 
books, so they may be said to be really a part of him. Everything in 
his books that reminded him of the cherished scenes of his childhood 
was marked. Also passages which depicted great strength of char- 
acter. The one preceding Chapter VIII is an example. 

All the papers have been published in their original condition, with 
but a single exception. The only papers James had prepared for 
publication, used in this book, were the poems and the "English 
Poets' Debt to the Church." It was his intention to publish his 
lecture on "Socialism and Anarchism," but he wanted to revise it 
first. 

When he prepared that lecture he was a very sick man, so I asked 
his good friend, Mr. Arthur Astor Carey, if he would go over it care- 
fully. Mr. Carey did so and wrote me as follows: "I have made but 
few changes — those changes were made to bring out the meaning a 
little clearer — in no case have I changed the meaning or added any- 
thing to it." 

After completing this work I accidentally found a file, which had 
escaped my attention, filled with letters, from people in all walks of 
life, thanking James for the favors he had rendered them The 
letters revealed a side of his character that has scarcely been touched 
upon in this book. Charity was his greatest characteristic. The best 
remains untold. 

Nellie M. Mahoney. 



Cardinal's Residence, 

408 N. Charles St., 

Baltimore. 



New Orleans, Louisiana, 

March the 3rd, 1917. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

72 G Street, South Boston, Mass. 

My dear Miss Mahoney: 

Your esteemed favor of the 27th ult., has been forwarded to me here 
in New Orleans where I am spending a few days. 

Although I had frequently heard of your brother, I do not recall 
ever having the pleasure of meeting him. 

I am pleased to hear that you are about to publish a Memoir of him 
and I most heartily bless your undertaking, for I am sure that it is for 
you a work of love. 

I have read with great interest the essay* you enclosed with your 
letter, written by him during his first year in High School. It shows 
a clear understanding of a question which is of so much interest dur- 
ing these times. 

Yours very sincerely, 

J. Card. Gibbons, 
Archbishop of Baltimore. 

* The essay referred to is " Ought Women to Vote.' " 



INTRODUCTION 

Sixty-one years ago, on graduating from Harvard College in the 
Class of 1855, I took for my Commencement subject, "The School- 
master of the Future," that being the occupation which I had chosen 
for at least the beginning of my active life. I was already settled in a 
small school, in the pleasant town of Concord, and saw no reason why 
I should not continue there, and in that agreeable and useful pursuit. 
Providence directed the course of my days otherwise; but I never 
regretted the choice I first made, of the function in which I was to test 
whether it would be allowed me to move the great world, be it ever so 
little, with the small lever of the teacher of boys and girls. It was 
but a few years after my graduation, and before I gave up my school, 
that our friend, James Mahoney, was born, who so well filled the func- 
tion declared to be of such value to mankind. 

Like my neighbor, Henry Thoreau, a natural inclination for study 
and thought turned the wishes of his family toward the acquirement by 
him of the higher education, which afterward fitted him for those up- 
per walks of instruction in which he so long labored. He graduated 
from the distinguished college at Amherst, at the age of twenty-two, 
but still continued to follow a line of studies which took him to Balti- 
more, to Boston and finally to Berlin. The names of his higher in- 
structors, including those of Dr. Seelye of Amherst, Dr. Herbert 
Adams and Woodrow Wilson at Baltimore, and of Paulsen in Ger- 
many, are guarantees of the solid and varied culture, with which he 
carried on for thirty years, and with a steady discipline and an or- 
ganizing faculty which does not always accompany high attainments, 
the serious business of instruction. 

In a country like ours, where there is an eager thirst for the practical 
benefits of education, but a small and proportionately decreasing desire 
for the rewards of the scholar's harder and ill-requited attainments, it 
is most attractive to see a zeal so native, and an accomplishment so 
successfully gained, as was noticeable in Mr. Mahoney. He did honor 
to a race noted for its learning since the earliest ages of its history; and 
it was with him no selfish acquisition, fostering pride and withholding 
him from the companionship of his kind; but what he had acquired 
with toil and travel he imparted freely, with labor and journeying, to 
those with whom his way of life brought him into acquaintance. His 
literary talent kept pace with his gift for instruction and for organiza- 
tion; for he was not one of those specialists who can do only one or two 
things well; but had that general faciUty for the tasks of the scholar. 



xii INTRODUCTION 

the citizen and the practical man, which Milton commends, and 
would have made the aim of his noble system of education. 

He had his trials and disappointments like others, and was no excep- 
tion to the rule that his good was sometimes misinterpreted, where it 
could not be misunderstood. Those who serve mankind with much 
expectation of gratitude are apt to be disappointed; even justice is 
not always rendered to excellent and earnest service. The motives 
must be religious, as his were; and then the result can hardly fail to be 
satisfactory. Wordsworth has well stated the rule for self -consecrated 
persons, in that Sonnet which thus closes : 

Earthly fame 
Is Fortune's frail dependant; yet there lives 
A Judge who, as man claims, by merit gives; 
To whose all-pondering mind a noble aim. 
Faithfully kept, is as a noble deed; 
In whose pure sight all virtue doth succeed. 

Frank B. Sanborn. 
Concord, Massachusetts, 
May 20, 1916. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

CHAPTER I 

Irish History and the Mahoney Family 

Only a week or two before James Mahoney* started on his fateful 
trip to California, he met a boyhood friend in Boston, with whom he 
felt free to soar into the realms of philosophy, even on a casual encoun- 
ter in the street. The talk turned in the course of time to the great 
war and particularly the future of Europe. A natural sidelight of 
this phase, that interested both, was the future of Ireland; whether 
it would be a contented but integral part of the British Empire; an 
independent nation; a self-governing outlier of the empire; anything, 
he hoped, but the sullen vassal as of yore. His forecast was that 
the awful toll of battle, would bring about one great good — a happy 
culmination of the miserable age-long story of Ireland. 

Mahoney was, of course, a New Englander through and through — 
born and bred on mid-Massachusetts' hills, educated in Amherst, 
Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Berlin. But the home of his ancestors 
had a deep interest for him. This was but natural from a man whose 
father came from Cork county and his mother was a Carroll from 
Clare county, a relative of the Maryland Carrolls, of whom it will 
be recalled Charles Carroll of Carrollton, faced a hanging in signing 
the Declaration. 

Mahoney would look back, with a glowing eye, to the stirring 
tale of King Mahon, possibly the most Irish figure in Erin's Valhalla, 
and among other things the traditional progenitor of the tribe of 
Mahony. 

Not all of this came out on any one occasion. It was to him a 
delight, to enlarge on so much of Irish history as he knew, and he, 
himself, a specialist in the teaching of history, to descant to a sym- 
pathetic mind, upon the varied and glorious annals of the green isle; 
into some of the recondite fields of which he had explored beyond 
the reach of many diligent students. Of the documented, authentic 
history, he knew the outlines very well. His own special bent tended 
toward philological, ethnological, and archaeological data, from which 
to get a light on the prehistoric. 

* Mahoney (Mah'-o-ni), Century Dictionary. This is the Irish pronunciation. 
Formerly there was no "e" in the spelling. It crept in during the school days in 
North Brookfield. 
2 



2 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

He was a great believer in race characteristics; their persistence; 
their undying adherence to distinguishing ideals, as he often expressed 
it, and found in the Irish race, not merely a blend of qualities merged 
in centuries of travail and attrition, but rather a primitive ground- 
work, distinctively Irish, that remained relatively unchanged through- 
out, on which there would from century to century be drawn various 
traits, other ideals, other aims, some to persist for a long time; some 
to vanish and make way for newer notions. 

A subject always of absorbing interest to Mahoney was the origin 
and migrations of the Celtic race. The historian, of course, soon 
runs short of written records and must rely on matters at first like 
architectural remains, bits of pottery, and the like, which carry him 
back only a few more centuries. Of comparatively recent times 
there has been developed a new instrument of research, in identifying 
ancient languages, some now forgotten as languages, but whose 
remains are embodied in modern speech. 

For a man of Mahoney's thoroughness, this vista came too late 
for anything like adequate study and so, teacher-like, he left the deep 
research work to others, but was eager for any fruits of their work. 
For the historian, this line of research has proved exceptionally rich, 
particularly in place names, which are found to be peculiarly persist- 
ent, practicably immovable in fact, and providing material regarded 
as more and more reliable, in tracing races back in the mists of time. 

Out of this has come a fairly well-settled conviction that the Celts 
were the first of the Aryan races to enter Europe. They travelled 
ever westward from somewhere in Asia, sometimes pioneers, pushing 
into the unknown and displacing the natives; more often, probably, 
being pushed onward by following tribes, who, with the virile strength 
of the rough, outdoor, poverty stricken, was able to drive onward, 
those he found in his way, who by long years of peace and plenty 
had lost possibly the warlike qualities that suflSced to win a foothold 
originally. But go where he would, the Celt left his place names, 
firmly attached to this day; often changed or corrupted to fit the 
tongue of newcomers, but holding fast to roots and essentials and 
being fairly recognizable, as a historical record. 

One field in which Mahoney liked to delve, by proxy of course, as 
he realized the limitations on his own energies in making anything 
like an adequate study, was the singular persistence of the word Gael, 
as imbedded in place names. It is noted to-day in Ireland, in "Gal"- 
way, Don-" gal," where one would expect to find it. The French 
to-day call the Prince of Wales, the Prince de Galles — the same word 
and pronounced practically the same as one talking Irish would pro- 
nounce Gael. France, itself, was once Gaul, still another form of the 
same word. The Romans conquered Gaul under Julius Caesar in 
48 B.C.; the Gallo-romans, in turn were conquered by the Franks in 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 3 

the fifth century a.d. In Brittany and Belgium we still find traces 
of these Gaels. 

The same word crops up a farther step eastward in "Gal' '-icia where 
there are practically no Gaels now, nor for a great many centuries; 
but it still remains the land of the Gaels, in name at least. Going 
still farther, probably in Asia Minor, there is a record found in the 
New Testament, of the "Gal "-atians, who lived in "GaF'-atia, 
another land of the Gaels, abandoned by them untold centuries ago. 

Another Celtic word singularly persistent is "dun," which in Gaelic 
is a hill, fortress, a fastness, probably away back, what we would call 
a robber's or raider's lair. It is part of the word Verdun. The same 
word appears in Lon"don," which once was only a Roman fortress 
and two hundred years of Roman occupation could not wipe the 
Celtic "dun," from the name. 

River names, also, are peculiarly tenacious. Renos or Rhenos 
is apparently an old Celtic word for "flowing water"; also Don, 
though there was probably some difference in meaning. These are 
imbedded to-day in Rhine, Rhone, Danube (in German Donau), 
Don Dneister and more obscurely in hundreds of other river, brook 
and lake names. Garonne in France is pure Celtic, being "Gar," as 
rough, turbulent and Rhone, a river, somewhat corrupted of course, 
to conform to the French tongue. 

Examples cited by philologists of extreme corruption in the course 
of many, many centuries, are Aisne and Marne, where the letter 
"n" is all that is left of the once assertive and tenacious Rhenos, 
or Renos, or some word very like it. This record in geographical 
names was peculiarly eloquent to Mahoney, as indicating the farflung 
migrations of the Celts. It also appealed to him as accounting, in 
some measure, for the remarkably early development of culture and 
civilization in Ireland. 

The Celts may be looked on as a rough, uncouth, ruthless and 
uncultured tribe as they entered Europe, the vanguard of the Aryans. 
They can be conceived as living in some place in the far east of Europe, 
say Galicia, and acquiring in the course of peaceful centuries some 
culture, perhaps not much. They either pioneered farther west- 
ward, or were driven on and repeated the process, their culture advanc- 
ing a step beyond the Galicia stage. They must have stayed 
centuries in the places they chose, so widespread and persistent are 
the remains of their language in place and river names. Finally, 
we can jump to the last stage when they reached Ireland, possessing 
not merely a high degree of accumulated culture, but, in fact, all the 
culture there was at that time. 

A curious remnant of this philological type, is the only survival of 
the word "Aryan" itself in "Ire "-land in a place name, which in 
Celtic is much different from "Ire"; more like Erin as we know 



4 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

the word, or Eirinn and many other variants in the spelling. It is 
not put forward here as a demonstrated fact that the "Ire" in Ireland 
is a variant of Aryan. It is conjectured to be by some philologists, 
with a confession of a very uncertain ground for any conclusion. 

They came in time to the then peaceful Ireland; a haven where 
the finer graces of culture could flourish far from war's alarms and 
literature that illuminated the world grew to rich fruition. There 
came other migrations to Ireland, notably from Spain, where Milesius 
and his followers, added a new facet to the Irish character, perhaps 
the most distinctive of all, except possibly the English, which have 
imposed their language at least on the island, though failing signally 
in other fields of effort. "She was subdued perhaps, but never 
conquered," as Mahoney would say. 

Of Irish history, the documented roster of events, little need be 
said here, except that one may note the singular tenacity with which 
the Irish remained Irish; they did not welcome Danes when the name 
of the Norse invader was a potent menace indeed, laid low later by 
Brian, whose harvest was garnered by Mahon. Even in later years, 
the English did no better. The invader became Irish in a generation 
or two; "More Irish than the Irish" has often been said of them. 

The best information on the origin of the Mahony family places 
its beginning in a.d. 483, founded by Cormac, King of Munster, 
anciently given as Maigheanach, enjoying the titles of Lord of Iveagh, 
also Lord of Kinal Meaky, ruling in Kinal Aodha, now the barony 
of Kinalea, south of the Lee. Their descendants, in remote but 
historic times, flourished mainly in Cork and Kerry. The widest 
known Mahony of modern times is probably Rev. Francis Mahony, 
born in Cork in 1805 and died in Paris in 1866, the Fr. Prout of liter- 
ature, whose "Bells of Shandon" are immortal, and "The Reliques 
of Father Prout" which originally appeared in Fraziers Magazine, 
are unique in English literature. A little farther back Venerable 
Charles Mahony, Irish Franciscan Martyr, was executed August 12, 
1679, at Rulhin in North Wales. He died praying God to forgive 
his enemies and to bless the King. His age was under forty. He 
suffered with great constancy, being cut down alive and butchered. 

Col. John O'Mahony was not only a famous Fenian, but one of 
the very learned men of his time. 

A Col. Dermod O'Mahony was with King James, at the battle 
of the Boyne (1691) and fought at Aughrim and Limerick; a Barthe- 
lemy O'Mahony, Chevalier of St. Louis, was a lieutenant general in 
France. A more imposing figure was Daniel O'Mahony, who fought 
at Limerick, at least, and then like many an Irishman went to France 
where he was made a colonel by Louis XIV for his work at the battle 
of Cremona, became later a brigadier in French service; went to 
Spain, where Philip V made him commander of the Irish dragoons, 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 5 

ultimately, a lieutenant general. Count of Castile and Commander 
of the military order of St. James. 

James Mahony's mother was a Carroll, coming from County 
Clare, Ireland, The chief of the family was Lord of Ely, also Lord of 
Clary and the family was originally more or less confined to Kerry, 
Tipperary and Kings, now of course found everywhere in Ireland, to 
say nothing of the rest of the world. Their principal castle was at 
Birr, near Parsonstown and the founder was Donald O'Carroll. They 
were staunch supporters of the English Stuart dynasty, the head of 
the clan in Charles I's time, having been Donough O'Carroll, who had 
thirty sons and one daughter. The old man made up a troop of his 
sons, or some of them, presenting the troop to the Marquis of Ormonde 
for Charles I. They followed Charles II into exile and died in foreign 
service. As a remnant of history, it is a small matter, but it requires 
little vision, to realize the light that would gleam in Mahoney's eyes, 
as he recalled this rugged ancestor. Brigadier Francis O'Carroll was 
a distinguished officer under James II, went to France when the 
monarch was exiled — more likely allowed to escape — and was killed 
at Marsaglia. His descendants are known in France to-day as "de 
Carrolles." 

The Carrolls came over in force with Lord Baltimore and helped to 
found Maryland, which may well be called the state of the Carrolls 
From them sprung Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the signer of the 
Declaration, the most distinguished American Carroll, though a ques- 
tion might be raised regarding the claims of his contemporary. Bishop 
Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States. The site of 
the city of Baltimore was bought from the Carroll family in 1792, 
and incorporated 1796 as a city. Daniel Carroll presented his farm 
on the Potomac to Washington, making what is now a large part of 
the District of Columbia. This Daniel Carroll was one of the thirty- 
six delegates who signed the Constitution in 1787. 

Grandfather Carroll was an accountant, of the type now known as 
"chartered" or "public" accountants. His work was more with the 
relatively simple records of transactions among the landlords, requir- 
ing accuracy and the utmost probity. 

Mahoney's grandfather's grandfather was the first of the family to 
settle near Crookhaven Harbor. He received from his father, who 
was a merchant marine, a sloop, cargo and a thousand pounds. He 
was a merchant, captain and owner of the sloop. There were no 
overland routes at that time and Crookhaven Harbor was a great 
port of call. There is a wireless station there now. 

Among their chief castles were Rosbrin, Ardimtenant, Ballydes- 
mond, Ringmahon, Blackcastle, Dunbeacon and Dunmanus. 

Their coat of arms bore the motto "We defend ourselves and our 
faith." 



6 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Mahoney's paternal grandfather was, in his youth, a captain of the 
yeomanry, later a government surveyor in County Cork. He was 
also a member of the Court of Arbitral Justice, a body for settling 
disputes between landlords and tenants, also for settling estates, etc. 

It is of some interest to note that one of the estates he settled was 
that of an English peer whose family name was Beecher, and who was 
a progenitor of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. 

It was, as may be guessed, an exceedingly responsible position and 
of exceeding honor and filled only by the best men to be had. Another 
office he filled was that of chief of the Coast Guard, which post often 
called him far from home. He was a learned man and a poet. 

James Mahoney's father was John Mahony, born at Goleen, 
County Cork, Ireland, in 1821. 

John Mahony left Ireland, May 1, 1850, in a small craft carrying 
less than fifty passengers, being six weeks and three days on the way. 
Under stress of weather, the ship had to put in at St. John, New 
Brunswick. He landed in Boston and made his way to Ware, where 
he settled down as a farmer. 

In 1856 he married Miss Bridget Carroll of Ware. She was born 
in Bally Kelly, a part of the town of Broadford, County Clare, Ireland, 
and came to this country in 1850, braving a thirty-six days' passage 
in a sailing packet, from Liverpool and travelling by train and coach 
to her sister's in Ware. 

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Mahony lived a while in Ware 
and later in Hardwick, but in 1863, purchased the old historic Hale 
farm in the western portion of North Brookfield, where they may be 
said to have lived ever after, the peaceful, uneventful, but character- 
building life of the industrious New England farmer. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Mahony were studious and, as may be gathered 
from the foregoing, well able to carry on the New England tradition 
of "Plain living and high thinking." When their children became 
old enough nothing was spared in schooling. This was no light task 
as the high school was three miles away and those were not the days 
of free transportation or free text books. 

They were never absent from school on account of the severe New 
England storms, and tardy marks were unknown to them, unless the 
roads were actually impassable and they had to wait in the team, on 
the road, while their father cleared a passage through the drifts. 
When the roads were known to be blocked they must start for 
school at 7 o'clock, so as to be at school on time, if it was humanely 
possible for their father to get them there. In those days there was 
no such thing thought of as no school on account of a severe storm. 
Punctuality and system were so thoroughly instilled in their minds 
that they could never be anything but punctual and systematic in 
whatever they did. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 7 

James, as has been indicated, had considerably more than the 
average in scholastic training. Miss Mary, the eldest daughter, died 
comparatively young, in 1891. Miss Kate A. has long been a teacher 
in North Brookfield. Miss Nellie M. was for many years supervisor 
of drawing in Massachusetts schools, later the companion of James 
and the chatelaine of his home. 

Mr. Mahony, the elder, died at the old home on February 28, 1902, 
at the age of 81, and Mrs. Mahony also at the family home on Novem- 
ber 30, 1906, at the age of 84. 

The following was copied from James' diary: 

Sunday 4.40 p.m., March 2, 1902. 

Father died Friday morning at 4.45 o'clock. 

I was awakened at the Nottingham at 3.30 a.m. by Mr. Hunt. 
He said : " A message has come over the 'phone for you. Your Father 
is alive but is sinking very fast and they want you to come right 
home." 

The first train I could get was the 5 a.m. train. I reached home 
at about 8.30. Father was already dead. When laid in the coffin 
profound peace was in his face. He looked as if asleep. 

The funeral was this afternoon from the church. The roads were 
very bad and it was raining but even that seemed fitting. The ar- 
rangements were perfect, not a delay anywhere. The flowers were 
beautiful. "Well done, good and faithful." Requiescat in pace. 

James Mahoney was born in Hardwick, on May 9, 1862, going 
with his parents soon after to North Brookfield, where his father had 
purchased a farm. Until he was nearly seven years of age he was an 
exceptionally robust, active boy, when an accident befell him. He 
was bedridden for four years. That no studying was possible during 
this period is obvious. He gained gradually during the next year 
and was able to do some studying, though under difficult conditions, 
for he was often pain racked, but it was considerable. During this 
time he started to teach his younger sister drawing, he, who had 
never been taught himself and his method was of the approved method 
of the present day. 

At twelve years he resumed school work, with his old class, the 
group with whom he studied when he was stricken five years previ- 
ously. His teacher at this stage was Miss Emma Whiting. At 
fourteen he entered North Brookfield High School, where the late 
Mr. Charles M. Clay and Miss Emily M. Edson were his teachers. 
Here his story can be left to later chapters, where those who knew 
him well, will continue his career. 



8 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

That Man, who is from God sent forth. 

Doth yet again to God return? 
Such ebb and flow must ever be. 

Then wherefore should we mourn? 

— William Wordsworth. 

Why if the Soul can fling the Dust aside. 

And naked on the Air of Heaven ride. 
Wer't not a Shame for him 

In this clay carcase longer to abide? 

— Omar Khayydm. 

Life! we've been long together 
Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 
» 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear — 

Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear; 

Then steal away, give little warning, 
Choose thine own time; 
Say not Good Night, — but in some brighter clime 

Bid me Good Morning. 

Death, of course, is always a tragedy, but there were peculiarly sad 
notes in the fate of James Mahoney. It was well known that he was 
on the eve of a promotion to a broader and higher sphere of activity 
in educational circles. 

An intensely home loving man, he was destined to die alone, among 
strangers, 2,000 miles from home. The announcement to his people 
came like a crash of thunder in blazing sunshine; no inkling of even 
illness preceding the telegraphic news. He had attended the con- 
vention of the National Education Association at Oakland, California, 
in 1915, where he read a paper on a technical subject and was on his 
way home. 

He had always cherished the hope of seeing Pike's Peak, Colorado. 
So his second stop on his way home was at Colorado Springs, on 
August 31. Next day he went on to Manitou and ascended Pike's 
Peak and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. A card from him mailed at 
the top of the Peak said "A boyhood wish realized." 

He announced at the hotel that he would undertake a trip to 
Crystal Park the next day. He bought a ticket but never used it. 
He complained the following (Thursday) morning of feeling ill 
(September 2) and at his request was taken to a doctor, who diagnosed 
his trouble as angina pectoris, a grave heart lesion. He improved 
greatly under treatment, doing finely through Thursday and Friday. 
Saturday noon he took some nourishment and seemed to be progress- 
ing. Indeed, Mahoney wrote home to his sisters (Saturday a.m.) 
that though he was under the weather, they should not worry as he 
had the best of care and a good doctor. His attendant looked in 
several times after he had lunch, but he seemed to be in a peaceful 
sleep and so he quietly withdrew. When the doctor called about 3, 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 9 

he too, thought him in a profound sleep, but a closer examination 
revealed the fact that "God's finger had touched him, and he slept." 
September 4, 1915. 

" And that clear-featured face 
Was lovely, for he did not seem as dead. 
But fast asleep, and lay as tho' he smiled." 

The funeral service at the Gate of Heaven Church in South Boston 
was a notable remembrance. The pastor, Rev. Robert J. Johnson, 
was celebrant; Rev. John O'Connell, deacon, and Rev. Waldo Hasen- 
fuss, subdeacon. Seated in the sanctuary were Rev. John J. McCoy 
of Worcester; Rev. Owen M. McGee of Springfield; Rev. Leo F. 
O'Neill, St. John's Seminary, Brighton; Rev. J. B. Donahue, Monson; 
Rev. Francis J. Hughes, Cambridge; Rev. John S. Keating, S. J., 
Boston College; and Rev. Thomas F. McCarthy of Somerville. 

Numerous civic, business and professional societies sent large 
delegations; the mourners included, besides, what may be called a 
representative section of Boston society. 

The body bearers were: Mr. Basil Gavin, James E. Maguire, 
Esq., Dr. Thomas F. Leen, Mr. John McCarthy, Dr. John F. O'Brien, 
Mr. George G. W^olkins. 

The honorary pall bearers were: Arthur H. Dakin, Esq., Rev. 
Charles F. Weeden, Dr. A. V. Lyon, Dr. E. M. Greene, Mr. C. E. 
Kelsey, Mr. A. M. Alvord, Rev. Herbert D. Ward, Judge Joseph H. 
Sheehan, Postmaster W'illiam F. Murray, Hon. John J. Mitchell, 
Dr. Augustine J. Bulger, Hon. T. B. Fitzpatrick, Hon. James J. 
Phelan, Dean Homer Albers, Mr. J. Templeton Coolidge, Rev. 
Herbert S. Johnson, Hon. Frank B. Sanborn. 

The burial was in North Brookfield, Mass. 

Prayers at the grave were offered by Rev. Robert J. Johnson of 
South Boston, Rev. Owen M. McGee of Springfield and Rev. Edward 
Judge of North Brookfield. 

The bearers at North Brookfield were fully representative towns- 
people, Mr. J. Henry Downey, Mr. Frank B. Mahoney, Mr. George 
O. Rollins, Mr. Charles E. Batcheller, Timothy Howard, Esq., and 
Mr. Edward McEvoy. -fr ^ 

The honorary bearers were: Mr. Basil Gavin, James E. Maguire, 
Esq., and Dr. Thomas F. Leen. 

Death is the crown of life. 

— Young. 

James W. McCoy. 



CHAPTER II 

Friendship is like the Suns eternal rays: No daily benefits exhaust 
its flame. It still is given and still burns the same. 

— James Mahoney. 

There is nothing perhaps more revealing, as to character, than what 
may be called the day-by-day correspondence between friends; that is the 
incidental, often sketchy treatment of topics of common knotvledge. A 
few such letters are appended, most of them coming at crises, either 
family, class or similar occasions, not dealing with matters of general or 
public interest. 

Old Letters from Friends Pertaining to the Family: 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
October 3, 1888. 
Mr. Mahoney, 

My dear Friend: 

Your note, received two or three weeks ago, was very welcome, 
and I should have replied sooner, but did not know your address. 

You are quite right in supposing that I should be interested to 
hear of your appointment. Ever since I knew you as a schoolmate 
of my own son, I have watched your progress with interest, and been 
pleased to hear of your success. I do think that you have fairly won 
all the success you have had, and not only by industrious application 
made yourself worthy of them, but by a conscientious earnestness of 
life and purpose which are certainly not too common among young 
men, though I do beheve, from what I know of the young men in our 
colleges at the present day, as compared with those of my youthful 
days, that there has been no falling off, to say the least, in these 
respects. 

That you will carry this conscientious earnestness into your new 
work, I cannot doubt, and for that reason shall always be glad to see 
you in positions of responsibility. 

You did not mention the studies which you are to teach, or what 
your work is to be. When you find time and opportunity to call on 
us, which will, I trust, be soon, I shall be interested to hear all about 
your new place and work. 

***** 

Mr. Duncan sends kind regards. I forgot to say that I told James 
when he came to spend a day or two with us at the close of his vacation, 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 11 

of your recent appointment, and he seemed much pleased, and would 
doubtless, wish me, on his behalf, to congratulate you. Col. Cooke, 
also, when I told him, expressed much gratification, and is heartily 
glad in your success. 
Hoping to see you before long, I remain as ever. 

Your sincere friend, 

Harriet E. Duncan. 

P. S. — My Mother and Mrs. Cooke send kind regards and congrat- 
ulations. 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
October 9, 1897. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I feel guilty for not sooner acknowledging your kind and delightful 
hospitality which I assure you was much enjoyed both by Mr. Duncan 
and myself. But my eyes do not permit me to write in the evening, 
and the days have been pretty full, so that to my shame it must be 
admitted that of the four families whose hospitality we received while 
in Boston, only one has thus far received acknowledgment since our 
return. The weather has been beautiful, and I have felt it almost a 
sin not to improve it to the utmost. Writing letters, sewing, or any 
indoor work seems a cruel rejection of Nature's hospitality when she 
lavishes on hill and vale and woodland such decorations, and pours 
forth such beauty for the entertainment of her children. So I have 
lured Mr. Duncan out for a drive almost every afternoon, and when 
I could not do that have often taken the horse myself and gone forth, 
with a friend to bear me company. On one of our drives I called on 
your mother. I think she is delightful; I saw your father for a few 
minutes, also. I never fairly saw his face before. How sunny and 
benevolent and kind it is! Oh, that there were more such people in 
the world as your father and mother! But most of the people are 
scrambling for something or other which is beyond their reach and so 
miss the peace and virtue and goodness which they might have. I 
think you are a worthy son of your father and mother. I believe you 
have kept yourself unspoiled in heart and life. It was pleasant to 
hear your mother's hearty endorsement of some things I said. She 
spoke with pleasure of your occasional visits home, and I know they 
are the events of her life, as the visits of my children are to me. 

:{: H: H< H: ^ 

Mr. Duncan and Mrs. Cooke send kind regards. 

Sincerely yours, 

Harriet E. Duncan. 



12 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
March 25, 1902. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

It was a beautiful note which I received from you the other day* 
I am sorry my own letter was delayed as it was. It must have made 
me seem negligent. You did not say one word too much about your 
beloved father. It was very welcome to me — every word of your 
filial tribute. And when we stop and reflect on the real character of 
those lives (such as your father's) with their unselfishness, their 
firmness, their unflagging industry, their integrity, their piety, and 
their affection, are not all the elements of true greatness there? And 
when you consider that all over this broad land there are such numer- 
ous instances of that kind, and that these men and women have 
trained their children to walk in their footsteps, we need never despair 
of our country. I am sure that your father must have enjoyed a 
great deal, and have found a rich reward, in the character and success 
of his children. Such parents live their lives over again in their 
children, and in their goodness, their advantages, and their success, 
find compensation for anything which in their own lives they may have 
missed. 

It was a very kind thought of yours — taking your mother to Boston. 
She could not be as constantly reminded there. I hope she has 
received much benefit from it. 

I hope you will call and see me whenever you can. I realize that a 
great responsibility has come upon you, and that your mother and 
your sisters must lean wholly on you. I shall be very much interested 
in the future movements of your family. I presume your mother 
could not feel that she can ever call any place home, except the pretty, 
sequestered nook where she has lived so many years. I can imagine 
that it must be very dear to you all. I always felt, when I went there, 
a peculiar charm about the location. It seemed as if I had suddenly 
come upon a bird's nest, I was there before I knew it. But delightful 
as the place is in the summer, it seems to me that the inconveniences 
in winter for the girls, must be very great, especially now that your 
father is no more there to keep your mother company during their 
absence. It is a great pleasure, and a surprise too, to know that your 
father showed such an interest in my husband and myself. I shall 
be glad, some time, to speak to you about a visit when we found him 
alone, and he was sole host. . . . 

Mrs. Cooke desires a kind remembrance to you. Please give my 
love to your mother and sisters. 

Most cordially yours, 

Harriet E. Duncan. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 13 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
December 7, 1906. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

The knowledge of your dear mother's death came to me Tuesday 
afternoon and I deeply regret that I did not hear of it soon enough to 
pay my tribute of respect and honor to her memory, with others, on 
Monday. 

She was a woman of great dignity and nobility of character I am 
sure, and the memory of such a mother will always be a blessing to 
you and your sisters. 

You have my true sympathy in your great loss, for my sister and 
I had also a most excellent father and mother. You certainly have 
much to be thankful for in the consciousness that you and your sisters 
have been so devoted to your mother and done so much for her com- 
fort and happiness. 

Your consolation now will be in the certainty that she has exchanged 
all the anxieties and pain and sorrow for a blessed life with those who 
have gone before and those who are sometime to follow her. 

May you be comforted and helped to bear this loss which is unlike 
any other that can come to you. 

Very truly your friend, ' 

F. E. Cooke. 

North Brookfield, Mass.^ 
March 22, 1904. 
Dear James: 

I want you to know that your friends on the hill are all greatly 
pleased to note the mention of your name in the public prints for 
the honor of an elevation to the important post of supervisor and 
earnestly hope that success may attend the efforts of your Boston 
friends. 

Most sincerely yours, 

John S. Cooke. 

Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I am very sorry for the sake of yourself and your sister that your 
beloved mother is no longer with you. But for her there must be 
joy in laying aside the burdens of age and putting on new life. It 
will always be a comfort to you to remember that she was with you 
last winter. 

I never knew a son more devoted in attentions of care, comfort, 
speech and honor to his mother than yourself. I am most glad that 
I had the privilege of meeting her and seeing the sweet serenity of her 
face and the grace of her affection for you. 



14 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Bye and bye when you have again taken up the old motives of Hfe 
come and tell me of her and I shall gratefully listen. 
With much sympathy, 
Sincerely yours, 

Kate Gannett Wells. 

Commonwealth Avenue., Boston, Mass. 
December 3, 1906. 



Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

Your letter reached me just as I was leaving Campobello, so please 
pardon me for the enforced delay in writing you. 

I have gladly written Mr. Conley as you requested and do earnestly 
hope that you will be elected. 

Then your friends will rejoice for you and the schools will acquire 
a most able and scholarly counseller. 

I hope you have had a pleasant summer and that your honored 
mother is well. 

Sincerely yours, 

Kate G. Wells. 
Owls Head, Maine. 
September 24. 



Hotel Westminster 

Copley Square 

Boston 

December 9, 1906. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

Mrs. Shaw and I were sorry to hear of your dear mother's death 
and we wish to extend to you our most heartfelt sympathy. Words, 
of course, can afford very little consolation at such a time, and yet 
I think that the knowledge that our friends feel for us, sympathize 
with us, and would willingly help us, if they could, must be somewhat 
of a palliative for our grief. You are of course, to be commiserated 
in the severance of the very strong earthly bonds between you and 
your mother, but I think you are also to be congratulated in that 
you can always bear with you the remembrance that you have always 
borne yourself with rare filial devotion and that there can be abso- 
lutely nothing with which to reproach yourself. 
Please convey our sympathy also to your sisters. 
Yours very truly, 

H. C. Shaw. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 15 

Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

Your grief and your research rival each other. Thank you very 
much for looking up the word, and writing me where it occurs. 
I am proud to have a friend who knows his Dante so well. 
Sincerely yours, 

Kate G. Wells. 
Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Mass. 
March 28. 

My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

You and your sister have my sincerest sympathy in one of the 
greatest trials this world can give us. For when the mother goes — 
whether it be early or late — the loss of that ever present all absorbing 
love seems for a time to make life empty. But the "Communion of 
Saints" makes us sure that it goes on for us forever, even if our 
mortal faculties cannot perceive it. It must be a consoling and happy 
thought that you were able to give her the joy of being near you before 
she was called away. Your note was the first notice I had, and I am 
glad you felt that I was sufficiently a friend to be made aware of your 
sorrow. My kindest regards to your sister, who must surely be 
happy too in the remembrance of her long years of devotion, and 
believe me 

Faithfully yours, 

Mary Elizabeth Blake. 
212 Beacon Street, Boston. 
December 19, 1906. 

Theodore C. Bates, 
29 Harvard St., 
Worcester, Mass. 

Worcester, Mass., 
February 20, 1907. 
James Mahoney, Esq., 

North Brookfield, Mass. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

Your letter of December 9, 1906, was remailed to me to Kansas 
City, Mo., and then again forwarded to me to Chicago. 

I deeply sympathize with you and your sisters in the loss of your 
dear mother. She and my mother were very good friends I well 
remember, and I recall the pleasant things she mentioned to me after 
her last visit to your mother. 

Mother Bates lived to the good old age of 92. The last fifteen 
years of her life she was with me much of the time, I was her youngest 
son, and fortunately was so situated that I could see that she had 



16 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

many comforts, especially during the winter months. Her birthday 
was May 3, and she always planned to be at her own home in North 
Brookfield on that day, and then spent much of her time there until 
Thanksgiving Day, after which she lived with us until spring. She 
was very fond of her old friends who patiently overlooked her deafness 
as your good mother always did. With the aid of her trumpet your 
mother could converse with Mother Bates and kindly chatted with 
her freely about old times. 

You will miss your mother, James, more and more, no one will ever 
take her place in your life and affections. No matter where you are — 
nor how many years from now her face and loving ways will haunt 
you as my mother's do me — more and more as the years roll by. 
Old Father Time may eliminate the memory of others, to a greater 
or less degree. New duties, new cares, new acquaintances may 
absorb your thoughts, but the sweet face and life of your mother will 
claim possession of your thoughts, day and night, bringing to you 
most delightful memories of her and the many happy hours you have 
had with her and the many kind words of her encouragement. 
Nothing on earth will ever afford you the same satisfaction and solace 
as your mother's love. We can never have but one mother — and 
how thankful we should be that we are permitted to retain in our 
memory so many beautiful thoughts of her, and of her loving kindness. 
In our early life she was almost "omnipotent, omniscient and omni- 
present," for our welfare. 

You have left your sisters, be good to them. They come near your 
mother's place. 

I thank you for your very thoughtful letter and the kind words 
you write. May you and your sisters be spared to each other for 
many long years of mutual happiness and tender affectionate love is 
the sincere wish of your old friend. Remember me most kindly to 
them. 

Yours truly, 

Theodore C. Bates. 



Ambition reigns 
In the waste wilderness: the Soul ascends 
Drawn towards her native firmament of Heaven. 

Rarely and with reluctance would I stoop 

To transitory themes; yet I rejoice. 

And, by these thoughts admonished, will pour out 

Thanks with uplifted heart that I was reared 

Safe from an evil which these days have laid 

Upon the children of the land, a pest 

That might have dried me up, body and soul. 

This verse is dedicated to Nature's self. 

And things that teach as Nature teaches: 




ilii. ui.D lli).\i 




HOME AGAIN 




THE OLD ELM BEHIND THE HOUSE 




ON THE TOP OF PRITCHARD HILL 




VIEW ON COY'S HILL 
(Camera too small to "pick up" the distant view) 




LAKE WICKABOAG IN WEST BKOOKl lELO 
King Massasoit lived in an Indian Village situated where the observer is supposed to stand 




THE WENIJMISSET VALLEY 
In this valley the massacre took place in 1675 




Brook which Flows Around the Lsianh i>\ uhh h Sicm.u KiMi Phillip's Camp 




Whitefield Stood on this Rock in 1740 and Preached to the Inhabitants of Brookfield 
Assembled in the Surrounding Fields 




iux\(i: rc> THE Reservation on "Indian Rock" Farm 




House where Lucv Stone \\a> lu.ns \m. Mi,-, Ui.vman, Niece of Lucy Stonj 




Site of Sergt. John Ayres' Cabin which was Besieged by the Indians in 1675 
The man is Mr. Henry Ayres, a lineal descendant of John Ayres 





A BROOKFIELD i^ARMER 
AND HIS DOG 



OLD TAVERN AT WEST BROOKFIELD 
Washington and Lafayette were entertained here 





Stone Marking Site op King Phillip's 
Camp in 1675 



'Indian Rock" from Behind which the 
Indians Fired on Ayres' Cabin 




's^'s ^^UHMpT ]^^^9^H 


num^' 


I^^K 


' fll^^lH^^^ 


!^-^i 


^P^^ 


p 


'^^^I^^H 




MA.IOK 



MAJOR AND HIS .MA.STER 



YOluNG FANNIE 



lg^^>#^ 


K^?^^ffll 


k^HpSjHJBfe ,j^ 


mH^H^ 




BP^^^ 




^^^^^^ffiSra^*^*^*^ 4^," V *, 4^* »it^-«j^'-f ?:^ 




HICK()R\ GR()\E 



WEST VIEW FROM HOUSE 





REAR VIEW OF THE OLD HOME 



IN THE HAYFIELD 




PRINCE 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 17 

Or draws, for minds that are left free to trust 

In the simplicities of opening life, 

Sweet honey out of spurned or dreaded weeds. 

And O ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves, 

Forbode not severing of our loves! 

Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might; 

I only have relinquished one delight 

To live beneath your more habitual sway. 

I love the brooks which down their channels fret. 

Even more than when I tripped lightly as they; 

The innocent brightness of a new-born day 

Is lovely yet; 
The clouds that gather round the setting sun 
Do take a sober coloring from an eye 
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality; 
Another race hath been, and other palms are won. 
Thanks to the human heart by which we live. 
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears. 
To me the meanest flower that blows can give 
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. 

The power, 

which all 
Acknowledged when thus moved, which 

Nature thus 
To bodily sense exhibits, is the express 
Resemblance of that glorious faculty 
That higher minds bear with them as their own. 

— William Wordsworth. 



A SUMMER ON A BROOKFIELD FARM 

I was anxious to go to North Brookfield this summer for, not only 
was it the home of my boyhood, but this year it celebrates the two 
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its first settlement. So, when the 
glass at Thompson's Spa stood at 93°, I took the first train for the 
Quaboag country. The train steadily ascends till at North Brook- 
field we are 1,000 feet above the sea at Boston. 

Beneath the elms and silver poplars, surrounded by apple and 
pear trees, how beautiful in my eyes is the little old house, where I 
grew from babyhood to young manhood. 

How lovely are the trees, how fine the hills, how deep and green 
the grass, how clean and cool, and sweet the air; no dust, no smoke, 
and a nice breeze blowing. 

Here, then, I am to be for five weeks. Early morning and late 
afternoon I climb the hills and revel in their charms. Nowhere, 
save in New England, has every spot a character of its own. The 
great corn fields, and wheat fields of the West are for a thousand 
miles the same, they are monotonous in their immensity and richness. 



18 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Here, every valley, field and hillside, every brook and wood is a 
personal friend. Then, too, everything is so lovely. The lines, the 
forms, the masses, the colors are infinitely varied; and charm by 
their good proportions and pleasant contrasts. And such hills! 
The White Mountains are much higher, the Berkshires more pictur- 
esque, the Rockies are far grander, but here the hills never shock you 
by being jagged or terrible. Climb a high tree, look across the sur- 
rounding country: The hills break into waves and the waves into 
countless crests; and as you watch them now they seem to rise and 
fall, and be alive, and their only purpose, to please. 

Here at the old homestead I got my first vision of the past, my 
first lesson in history. Beyond the house, Pritchard Hill rises slowly 
from the roadside, and up its side extends an ample lane. At the 
head of the lane huge elms, a barn, and the cellar of a house, long since 
gone. To this spot, on Sundays, would come a tall, slender, old man, 
who would linger for hours by the old ruin and weep. One day I 
cautiously approached him and learned that his name was William 
Hale, that this had been the home of his family for generations. That 
his great-grandfather had been driven from Boston by the English 
before the American Revolution, that coming to Brookfield he had 
built a manor house on this spot and had been made justice of all 
the district round. He had served in the Revolution; and I saw his 
commission, signed in the bold handwriting of John Hancock. Later 
I read the old man's diary, giving an account of various trials held 
before him as justice. At the foot of the hill, long after, lived Joseph 
Tucker, who, when his sons went to the war in '61, sold his land to 
my father and removed to the village. So, while still a boy, I had a 
long look into the past. 

The old township was eight miles square, including what are now 
North Brookfield, South Brookfield, West Brookfield, New Braintree 
and Warren. Here for weeks, during the glorious summer, I sit 
upon the hills, and walk, and drive from site to site, and from shrine 
to shrine. 

As I stand on Coy's Hill, the rich afternoon sun shines on the living 
landscape of Quaboag. Way down in the valley gleams the level 
water of Lake Wickaboag, and in the distant southeast is the silver 
surface of Quaboag Pond; here and there through the deeper valley 
winds the Quaboag River, into which flow the many streams which 
have given the name "Brookfield" to the entire district. Far to 
the north looms up Mt. Monadnock, to the northeast Wachusett, to 
the south, Marks Mountain, and in the west the Holyoke Range; 
while in the farther distance roll the blue forms of ever receding New 
England hills. 

As I gaze on this valley, I indulge in a day-dream of by-gone ages : 
As the ice of the glacial period melts, I can see mighty rivers fill these 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 19 

valleys from ridge to ridge, tearing away the rocks, grinding them 
into soil, and as the flood subsides, dropping the mud to the bottom 
of the valleys, where it produces the rankest weeds and greenest 
grasses. Here for countless ages I see the Quaboag Indians roam 
the hills and meadows, fish in these brooks, plant corn on these plains, 
build their wigwams by the ponds, and yonder, in the Wenimisset 
Valley, I see them gather to defend their ancestral homes, and in the 
dark ravine on the edge of the valley I see them with uplifted toma- 
hawks and with fierce screams, massacre the white men. In the 
middle ground, rises Foster Hill, whither in 1675 the remnant of the 
band of Captain Wheeler retreated after the massacre, and where for 
three days and nights, in Sergeant John Ayres' cabin, they were 
besieged by the howling savages, who kept up a ceaseless shower of 
arrows and bullets from the meeting house, from the barn, and from 
"Indian Rock." But a rescuing party came, and although for ten 
years the Whites then abandoned these hills, they came again with 
greater power and determination. King Philip's War, the Indian 
War of Independence from the Whites, had been fought and lost by 
the Red Men. In the great swamp in Wenimisset Valley may still 
be seen evidences of the old Indian village, where stood the camp of 
King Philip, and it seems salutary to sit here upon the mound and 
review this old history with the eye, and with the mind of King 
Philip. It will not be hard to find some fellow feeling for this old 
Red Man, who saw the homes of his fathers being seized by the power- 
ful Whites. To be sure these Indians had "sold" the land, but what 
did fee simple mean to the Indian mind? Did it mean to give up 
forever ponds and brooks where he had fished, and plains where he 
had planted corn, the means by which he lived.'* Only too late did 
that conception enter the Indian mind. In fifty years the Indians 
had practically disappeared, leaving little behind save arrowheads, 
and round holes in the hillsides called "barns," where they stowed 
their winter's food. 

One thing that catches the eye of the traveller especially is the 
great network of stone walls which covers the entire region. The 
thoughtless traveller thinks not of the ceaseless toil which built these 
walls, drained the meadows, cleared the lands, built sawmills, grist- 
mills, schoolhouses and churches. No more forceful community 
existed in the new world than this of Brookfield. Brookfield men 
took a prominent part in all the great events and movements of our 
national history. In the French and Indian War, and in the American 
Revolution, Francis Stone and Rufus Putnam led sturdy troops of 
men from these Brookfields. In the War of the Rebellion, Francis 
A. Walker was only the most distinguished among many. Yonder 
in the valley, below my house, by the old Mill Brook, was the mill in 
which Rufus Putnam received his earliest lessons in the handling of 



20 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

tools, lessons which stood him in such good stead later, when, by 
Washington's request, he fortified Dorchester Heights. On the 
brow of Coy's Hill is the old Stone homestead, where Lucy Stone, a 
descendant of Francis Stone, was born ; and over in the village is the 
old home of Amasa Walker, the distinguished father of Francis A. 
Walker. The old folks are gone, but the hills still stand, and the 
grasses still grow in ancient Brookfield, and those who reverence 
New England, will hardly find a more interesting historic district, 
or a more charming place in which to spend a summer. 

James Mahoney. 
Written in 1910. 

The photographs used in this article were taken by James 
Mahoney. 



CHAPTER III 

I knew him first a boy, bright-eyed, alert. 
His face rippling with laughter, and his heart 
So full of sympathy for everything 
That lived, he coidd not bear the sight of pain 
Or ivrong. He knew the world was made for love. 
And love he gave and took where'er it came. 
Unconscious, innocent. And when life's cares 
Began for him he met them with a grace 
That turned them into blessings. 

—C. E. Bell. 

Early School Days 
"Still sits the schoolhouse by the road, 

Around it still the sumacs grow, 
And blackberry vines are running." 

Abandoned now, "long years ago" nearly forty pupils assembled 
there. Up the long steep hill I rode one golden September morning, 
to take charge of this school. 

Looking over my new field, I noticed a pair of crutches leaning 
against a desk. Beside them sat a boy with a rare face, fair as a girl's, 
thoughtful, earnest and with an expression of dignity and lofty purpose 
unusual in one so young. He gave me his name, James Mahoney, 
and his age twelve years. 

James was one of a class of four boys, near in age and well matched 
in ability and ambition. Honest, faithful, studious, they prepared 
their lessons with joy and gladness and recited with a vim exhilarating 
to the teacher. Unhampered with any course of study, they pursued 
their way up the hill of knowledge at their own pace. Fractions and 
decimals were soon thoroughly mastered and in due time square root 
and cube were attacked and vanquished. How those boys parsed and 
how they spelled and defined words with their synonyms. Then when 
Greenleaf's arithmetics, mental and written, were finished to the last 
puzzling example the class passed a very satisfactory examination and 
entered the high school. 

The noble traits of character manifest in his early school days 
remained with James Mahoney through life. The boy was father of 
the man. 

Emma Whiting. 
North Brookfield, Mass. 
November 9, 1916. 



22 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

English High School, Providence, R. I., 

July, 1916. 

In the little white schoolhouse of District No. 4, North Brookfield, 
Mass., away back in the early 70's of the last century, began my boy- 
hood association with James Mahoney. 

Bert Bigelow, my brother Cyrus, James and I formed a quartet of 
boys who, in 1875, were inspired by the best teacher we ever had, in 
that school. Miss Emma Whiting, to go to high school. Well do I 
remember the day when we four walked the leafy wood road at noon 
of a June day, debating the question — to go or not to go. James was 
most eager for it, and we all made the decision which meant so much 
for our future. 

In high school James' fine mind and high character began to un- 
fold. Cut off by his lameness from the active sports of the other boys, 
his mind naturally dwelt more upon his studies, and he usually led the 
class. In keenness, clearness, power of concentration and originality 
he excelled us all. 

But he was not merely a "good scholar." Every realm of human 
thought attracted him, and his active mind began to range through all 
of them . Many is the conversation we had together on the questions of 
philosophy, religion, and morals, as we hung over the window sill of 
the boys' coat room at recess, or walked to and from the schoolhouse. 
When graduation day came the title of his valedictory essay, "Ad 
Quern Finem" showed in what direction his thought was turned, and 
the essay was profound for a boy hardly eighteen years old. 

In our junior year came the question of Greek, which was at that 
time required for admission to all the colleges. James seized upon it 
at once as the key which would admit him to that wider intellectual 
life which his mind craved. Of all our studies I think he shone most 
brilliantly in that. The precision, the exactness, the elegance, and 
the fine shades of thought of the Greek all appealed to him, and his 
mind leaped out to meet them, so to speak. 

As we were not fully prepared for college by our high school course, 
James spent the summer after graduation — the summer of 1880 — in 
study. Once in college, his brilliant scholarship attracted attention 
from all his instructors, and made him one of the leaders of his class. 

I was a year behind James in college, but was intimately associated 
with him, and I never knew any one more eager to go to the bottom of 
every question — to find the truth; nor anyone more keenly apprecia- 
tive of the world's best literature. We roomed together in his junior 
and my sophomore year, and on many a fall and winter evening of 
that year a group gathered in our room to read aloud. I remember 
his great enjoyment of Byron and Shelley, as well as Victor Hugo. 

Of late years our lives had drifted apart, and we seldom met. It 
was a cause of great regret to all his high school classmates that he was 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 23 

in the West on the date of our thirty -fifth aniversary reunion at North 
Brookfield, last July. We sent him a message of remembrance at the 
time, and when we learned of his untimely death soon after, we hoped 
that it had been a source of comfort and happiness to him to have 
received it. 

Sidney A. Sherman. 
Amherst, 1885. 

James Mahoney's and Sidney Sherman's Parts in the 
Graduation Exercises of the North Brookfield 
High School, 1880 

Metrical Reading — "The Wrangle of Agamemnon and Achilles (in 
Greek) 

James Mahoney and Sidney A. Sherman 
French Dialogue — "Le Medecin Malgre de Lui" (Moliere) 

James Mahoney took the part Sganarelle, mari de Martime 
Sidney A. Sherman took part of Valere 
Valedictory Oration — "Ad Quern Finem," 

James Mahoney 

"The Essays were well received, that of the valedictorian being the 
most meritorious, and credit is due to both participants in the Greek 
reading, and to nearly all in the French dialogue; in fact, the audience 
seemed even better pleased with these exercises in foreign language 
than those in their native tongue. " — North Brookfield Journal. 

The following is in reply to a letter by James Mahoney on an abstruse 
point in Greek. Mahoney was at the time seventeen years of age. 

Cambridge, Mass., 
April 16, 1879. 
Dear Sir: 

You have fairly convicted me out of my own mouth on the matter 
of the future of oTrXtfco. It is clear, of course, that if I give the 
sentence which you point out in my Greek Lessons I must add the 
future of the verb in the vocabulary. Thank you for pointing out the 
discrepancy. I shall be very much obliged to you if you will send me 
corrections of the Key. 

I hope in the course of the year to make a new edition of my Les- 
sons on a more elementary plan. My present purpose is to make no 
references to Mr. Goodwin's grammar, but to incorporate all the state- 
ments of grammar in the book itself. 

I should be obliged to you if you would send me any suggestions 
which would help me in this work. 

Very truly yours, 

John Williams White. 



24 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

I take pleasure in commending Mr. James Mahoney to any one who 
may be seeking a fit man for the position of High School principal. 

I have known Mr. Mahoney in his course of preparation in our high 
school, and have followed him with much interest during his collegiate 
course at Amherst. In both places he has shown himself a diligent 
and able student, and a young man of excellent moral character and 
high aims. From both schools he has graduated with honors. 

I believe he will make a faithful and successful teacher and that his 
influence in the school room would be stimulating and helpful. 

S. P. Wilder, 
Pastor, First Congregational Church 
and Member of School Committee. 
North Brookfield, Mass. 
July 16, 1884. 

The Class of '80 of the North Brookfield High School wish to express 
to you their deepest sympathy in this time of sorrow when you lose a 
brother and we a beloved classmate. 

We regretted exceedingly that James could not be with us this sum- 
mer at our reunion and our grief is much deeper now as we realize we 
can never look upon his face again and hear from his own lips of the 
work that he has done. 

We are proud that we have had such a classmate who has done so 
much to make the world better by his life and works, and we shall ever 
cherish his memory. 

Your Friends and His Classmates: 

President 

Charles E. Batcheller 

North Brookfield, Mass. 
Secretary 

Laura Miller Grout, 

East Bridgewater, Mass. 

Cyrus T. Sherman, 

Quincy, Mass. 
Sidney A. Sherman, 

Providence, R. I. 
Bert E. Bigelow, 

Worcester, Mass. 
Lizzie M. Tucker, 

North Brookfield, Mass. 
Minnie L. Lytle, 

North Brookfield, Mass. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 25 

To THE Dear Sisters of a Noble Boy: 

One of my own boys, the boy who has been in my mind during all 
the years since '78 when I knew him for a short time, but of whose 
career I had entirely lost trace. But the instant I saw the name and 
picture in the Globe of Tuesday, I recognized my own dear student in 
the North Brookfield High School, and as I read the account of his 
grand achievements I was not surprised, but I was grateful that I once 
knew the young man. 

His was an unusually attractive face and personality; quiet, un- 
pretentious, but very, very winning. 

It filled my heart with grief to read of his untimely death and my 
sympathy goes out to the sisters who are bereaved of such a brother. 

Very sincerely, 

D. N. Putney. 
Putnam, Conn. 

September, 1915. 

My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I had only three or four months of personal acquaintance with 
James — as, at the close of the first term I accepted the principalship of 
Monson Academy. Some two years later I was obliged to get out of 
the educational current for a time and when I took up the work again 
it was in South Carolina. 

From these causes, I lost trace of the careers of nearly all the stu- 
dents at Leicester, North Brookfield and Monson. When I read of 
the death of this fine young man and of the remarkable achievements 
he had made, I understood better than ever before why his personality 
had made such an impression upon me in one short term and that, 
too, when he came under my instruction in only one study, geometry. 

Always in the intervening years when I would be thinking of stu- 
dents of earlier days, the personality of that young fellow would loom 
large in my recollection and I would ask myself, "What of Mahoney; 
did he go to college and make a great record there; and what of him 
since.'' 

Of course some of these thoughts and questions arose regarding other 
students whom I knew for a longer time or had in more classes or 
studies. But it was Mahoney 's name and career that was ever in 
my imaginings. Why? I can hardly tell the reasons. 

That fine face, broad brow, open nature, his obvious popularity with 
his classmates, the commendatory words of my assistant teacher who, 
as I distinctly recall, told me I should find in him a delightful student. 

As it happens I have a small pocket class-record book of daily reci- 
tations, set down at the end of each recitation. This book seems to 
have been only a temporary one and was used only a few weeks. But 



26 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

every one of James' recitations is marked 10, the maximum, the per- 
fect mark. 

I value that Httle book now. I reproach myself that I did not 
keep in touch with him in all the years of his notable career. Dear 
boy; noble man, I can lay claim to no part in your splendid making; 
but I can share in the pride of those who did direct your genius. 
Especially do I honor those noble-minded parents whose devotion 
and love enabled you to attain so high a place in the service of society. 
Hail, beautiful spirit, may I meet you in the Higher. 

Sincerely, 

D. N. Putney. 
Putnam, Conn. 

September 10, 1915. 



English High School, Providence, R. I. 

September 8, 1915. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

North Brookfield, Mass. 
Dear Friend: 

I have just learned through my brother Cyrus of the sudden death of 
your brother James. 

Though I had not seen James for many years, I retained my 
affection for him, and often thought of him as my old school and 
college friend. 

I think it was his initiative that led me to go to college. He broke 
the ice and I followed. He made a brave fight in school and college. 

You may know that at the reunion of our Class of '80 at North 
Brookfield, July 13 last, we who were present sent a message of good 
cheer to James and another absent member. I am glad we did it, and 
hope that James had received it. With sincere sympathy, I am 

Your old friend, 

Sidney A. Sherman. 

Miss Mahoney: 

I was very much surprised to read last evening in our Worcester 
paper of the sudden death of you brother James. 

As you are probably aware the Class of '80, N. B. H. S., held very 
recently their first class reunion at the home of Charles Batchelder 
and we all recalled many pleasant memories of James and many 
regrets were expressed that he was not able to be with us on that 
occasion. 

It was by chance that I saw the notice in yesterday's paper and it 
may escape the attention of some members of the class, but I am sure I 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 27 

voice the sincerest sympathy of the membership of the class for your- 
self and sister Nellie in your great loss. 

Most sincerely, 

B. E. BiGELOW. 

Worcester, Mass. 

21 Weywood Street. 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
September 12, 1895. 
Dear Misses Mahoney: 

Excuse me for intruding on your great sorrow but I just had to let 
you know how deeply every member of the Tucker Family feel for you 
in the loss of your dear one — the man we had so much respect and 
admiration for. 

Yours in sorrow, 

Catherine Tucker. 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
September 12, 1915. 
Dear Friends: 

My family and I extend to you our sincerest sympathy in your great 
sorrow. May God be with you and comfort you now and always. 

We also are mourning the loss and feel that we also have lost one 
of our dearest and best friends, one who sympathized in our sorrows 
and rejoiced in our prosperity. We shall cherish his memory to our 
last day. 

We feel it was an honor to be accepted as his friends. 

Sincerely yours, 

George O. Rollins and Family. 

709 West North Street, Fostoria, Ohio, 
September 11, 1915. 
Dear Kate and Nellie: 

You have our sincere sympathy in this great sorrow that has come 
to you. 

It is a long time since papa has been so deeply grieved. He says 
that it seems as though his young brother had been taken from him, 
for that is the way he always looked upon Jim. 

It is hard, inexpressibly hard, for you, but, though our hearts 
break, we must say, "Thy will be done." I will pray that in time 
He will give you strength to say it. 

Deepest sympathy and love from papa, John and your loving cousin, 

Susie Mahoney Kane. 



28 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I wish you and your sister to know that you have my most heartfelt 
sympathy in the great sorrow that has come to you. 

The knowledge that the life of your brother was so noble brings with 
it consolation and hope. Our religion helps us to receive such sorrow 
with a reconciled spirit. May you have the strength to bear your 
great deprivation. With deepest feeling, 

Sincerely, 

Margaret Doyle Wallace. 
Fall River, Mass. 
October 13, 1915. 

San Diego, Cal., 
September 20, 1915. 
Miss Kate A. Mahoney, 

North Brookfield, Mass. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I have just learned from home of the great sorrow which has come 
to you and your sister. 

It is hard for us to part with our loved ones even if we are expecting 
and can prepare for it, but much harder to do so when it comes in the 
manner in which this parting has come to you, but it is sweet to 
know that we shall meet again in a brighter and happier world where 
partings shall be no more. 

Please accept the kindest wishes and sympathy for yourself and 
sister. 

Sincerely your friend, 

Alfred C. Stoddard. 

Framingham, Mass., 
September 12, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I did not know until a few moments ago of the great sorrow which 
had befallen you. 

I feel that words are but cheerless things at such a time, but I want 
you to know, dear Miss Mahoney, that you have my deepest sym- 
pathy. I only wish that I were near you where I could help you in 
some way. You were always so dear to me that I wish I could do 
something for you. With a heart full of sympathy and love, I remain, 
Your loving friend, 

Helen M. Eaton. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 29 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
September 13, 1915. 
Dear Miss Mahoney and Sister: 

Our hearts are full of sympathy for you in your sorrow. May God 
give you strength to bear it! 

It will be a comfort to you to know that he was a man of so great 
ability and so highly esteemed. 

With love, 

Marion S. Bush. 

Walpole, Mass., 
September 12, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

Accept my sincere sympathy for you in the great loss of your 
brother. 

I read of his fvmeral in the Globe and feel that he was a brother of 
whom you might, indeed, be proud. However that makes it all the 
harder to give him up. Am truly sorry for you, Miss Mahoney. 

Sincerely, 

Charlotte Daley. 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
September 12, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I feel I want to send you and your sister a few lines, so you may 
know that Dr. and I sympathize with you in this great loss that has 
come to you. It is so sad, and such a loss, not only to you and sister, 
but to all who knew him, and I always feel that such a person's influ- 
ence must affect even those whom they have not known. 

My heart aches for you at this sad time, and I wish I could write 
something that would comfort you. Only this I have to send you. 
The Eternal God is our refuge, and underneath it all, are the Ever- 
lasting Arms. May He help you and give you strength to bear it all. 
Lovingly and with sympathy from Dr. and myself. 

Annie I. Prouty. 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
September 11, 1915. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I was so sorry to hear of the death of your brother, and I want 
to send you my love and sympathy at this time. With kindest 
remembrances. 

Affectionately, 

Kathryn p. Winchell. 



30 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

North Brookfield, Mass., 
September 9, 1915. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

We were very sorry to hear of the sudden death of your brother. It 
must have been a great shock to you both. 

When we think how devoted you three were to one another, then we 
reaUze how great your affliction must be. It is not often that one 
sees such love and devotion among sisters and a brother. 
I hope you will have strength to bear your burden. 
You have our sincere sympathy in your great loss. 

Lovingly, 

M. Alice Converse, 
Inez W. Converse. 

God calls our loved ones, but we lose not wholly 

What he hath given; 
They live on earth in thought and deed as truly 

As in His Heaven. — J. G. Whittier. 

Such was the Boy — but for the growing Youth 

What soul was his, when, from the naked top 

Of some bold headland, he beheld the sun 

Rise up, and bathe the world in light! He looked — 

Ocean and earth, the solid frame of earth 

And ocean's liquid mass, in gladness lay 

Beneath him: — Far and wide the clouds were touched, 

And in their silent faces could be read 

Unutterable love. Sound needed none. 

Nor any voice of joy ; his spirit drank 

The spectacle: sensation, soul, and form, 

All melted into him; they swallowed up 

His animal being; in them did he live, 

And by them did he live; they were his life. 

In such access of mind, in such high hour 

Of visitation from the living God, 

Thought was not; in enjoyment it expired. 

No thanks he breathed, he proffered no request; 

Rapt into still communion that transcends 

The imperfect offices of prayer and praise. 

His mind was a thanksgiving to the power 

That made him; it was blessedness and love! 

— William Wordsworth. 

Bright flower! for by that name at last. 
When all my reveries are past, 
I call thee, and to that cleave fast. 

Sweet silent creatiu-e! 
That breath'st with me in sun and air, 
Do thou, as thou are wont, repair 
My heart with gladness, and a share 

Of thy meek nature! — Wordsworth. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 31 

"Of course in our youth many of our thoughts are fanciful and 
many of our plans unpractical but the spirit that animates them is 
pure then if ever, if the divinity ever whispers to mortals it is at the 
dawn of young manhood. If the rose forms opinions will they not be 
optimistic when 'tis budding into bloom and pessimistic as it withers?" 

James Mahoney. 

Herewith is a collection of some of Mahoney 's compositions, when a 
pupil in the high school, opening with a discussion of the women suf- 
frage question, when the writer was fifteen years of age. "Suffrage" 
was then a rather new subject and the world has since learned much 
about "votes for women." 

OUGHT WOMEN VOTE? 

Perhaps it is with presumption that I thus prematurely write 
upon a subject of so great importance. But, yet, alone and unad- 
vised, I will attempt to vindicate my opinion in the face of the 
accumulated wisdom of opposing arguments. "Ought women to 
vote?" is a question that is now causing a great turmoil throughout 
the civilized world. 

I have no spirit, of prophecy to foretell the result of this agitation. 
I leave prophecy entirely to the other side. But, judging from past 
and present circumstances, it is my opinion that this strife will cause 
a temporary evil influence; but will ultimately result in good, by 
enabling both sexes to perceive its true position. 

In order to answer this question, we will have to consider the 
relative character, necessities and nature of man and woman. This 
estimation of nature is not determined by Janus-like looking on two 
sides, but is determined, as any commonsense man or woman w'ould 
determine it, by looking, observing and studying on all sides. 

Now, in the first place, I would waste time in attempting to prove 
that man and woman were not intended for separate parties, as some 
w^oman's right agitators would make it appear. Nothing in nature 
is more obvious than that their existences were destined to flow 
together : all phases of life, from the insect to the human race, attest 
it. 

But, as they are two beings, the same Almighty Hand that formed 
them, that gives simplicity and law to all the works of nature, from 
the lowest to the grandest, we would suppose would give them 
faculties to perform separate duties. Neither would be able to 
perform the duties of both, and that infinitely wise Mind, that divides 
and distributes the functions of all the creation, we find has done so 
here. 

Every sensible person must acknowledge that man and woman are 



32 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

essentially different. Physiology, anatomy, phrenology, common 
sense, all tell us that in their very structure they differ greatly. They 
tell us that woman is of a finer, a more delicate, and a more com- 
plicated constitution, and, consequently, more liable to be deranged. 

They also tell us that man is of a rougher, a sterner and a more 
robust mould. And out of the very fitness of things, man was clearly 
destined to brave and buffet with the storms of existence, while 
woman was intended for its nicer and more delicate work. Thus, 
each has its own faculties, each has its own position suitable to those 
faculties, each has its own nature. And we cannot pervert our 
nature without it resulting in destruction and dissolution. If we 
deviate slightly from the nature of our bodies, disease will follow; 
if we persevere, death will be the result. 

It is folly to attempt to do anything for which we have not the 
capabilities. Disaster is sure to follow. But some persons have 
somehow received the idea that if woman does not occupy the same 
position as man, that she is degraded and considered an inferior. 
This is certainly an error. The highest position that any creature 
or any force in the universe can occupy is that which God gives it 
power to fill. 

The fishes belong to their own element; the birds of the air to theirs; 
the beasts of the field are distributed according to their nature and 
each would die, or, at least cease to prosper, when taken out of its 
own element: and in my humble opinion, woman would debase 
herself were she to descend to man's position. But because man or 
woman has special qualifications in particular directions, it does not 
follow that they are devoid of faculties in all others. 

All the professions and pursuits of life are intimately connected 
in their higher development; each branch of wisdom is joined with 
every other; and thus, the strength of any of our faculties depends 
greatly upon the strength of the others. So it is with man and woman : 
each has some talent to follow the pursuits of the other. If they had 
not this power to some degree, they could not execute their own 
requirements with success. 

Also, there are exceptions to the general nature of man and woman, 
as there are to all rules. There are masculine women and imbecile 
men. And those favoring Woman's Rights triumphantly point out 
those exceptions and pretend to call them the rule. They tell you 
of the Amazons, a race of female warriors, having no more of the 
characteristics of their sex than is possessed by wild beasts, and whose 
reported cruelties could only have been exceeded by the males of the 
same race. 

From the dawn of history until the present day, and in all stages 
of life, wherever brute strength is dominant, where might makes 
right, we find woman, from her physical incapacity to cope with man, 
we find her in a wretched condition, in degrading thralldom. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 33 

From the old nations that bought and sold them as slaves; to 
England in later days, which allowed her women to be publicly 
whipped in the streets, or subjected them to the ducking-stool; 
where a son might see his mother half-drowned and treated worse 
than a disobedient dog; the same cruelty we find them exposed to 
among our American Indians, and amongst all savages, and we find 
the sainted Mormons, who are a disgrace and a stigma to our Union, 
bartering their women like swine and cattle. 

But the world has considerably advanced from such horrors; but 
mark the fact that it is civilization and Christianity that has effected 
this change in the condition of woman. It is by civilization that 
she has reached her present position, and it is by civilization that she 
ought to advance still further. Civilization is the true lever by 
which she can move the world. 

The higher she raises man, the higher she raises herself. Ignorance, 
immorality and vice are her deadly foes. Is it this that the woman 
righters realize? Is it for this that she desires to vote? Does she 
wish to free herself from slavery? Does she wish to right her wrongs? 
Ah! But I ask you if her greatest wrongs are not self-imposed? 
The majority of women are moral slaves, are willing dupes of the 
king of fashion. They follow his dictates without reason and without 
protest. What is the common belle of society but a mixture of paint, 
rouge, flounces, trails, tie-ups, pull-backs and bang-downs? And do 
those women that thus destroy the fruits of toil and industry, that 
thus tolerate this outrage, this mockery of decency, of justice, of 
morals, of health, of economy, do they lift up their languid eyes and 
ask to vote, to manage the affairs of the commonwealth, when 
fashion and scandal are the grandest subjects that can fill their minds? 

This is an evil that is holding them down, and even were it one of 
their rights to vote, this would be a great preventive. This is an 
evil that causes a great deal of misery and misunderstanding between 
the two races. It is an evil that degrades her condition, and weakens 
her in mind and body. 

A short time since, an honest believer in the good old times, said 
to me: "Why, our wimmen are gettin' so tinder we'll have to wrap 
im up in cotton." But would that the evil ended here, would that I 
had no more of the depravity of her nature of which to speak. 

But we cannot be ignorant of painful truth when it plainly glares 
in our eyes. An age of impurity and of lust has come upon the 
world. Every newspaper is laden with crimes, that have hitherto 
been nameless, we cannot look upon society without becoming aware 
of the fact. 

This is by no means confined to the lower walks of life. It is 
fostered and nourished by power and position. Society is beset 
by a race of feminine vipers who, under an extremely thin fabric of 



34 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

decency, are sucking the very life blood of humanity. They destroy 
beauty, holiness and religion; they cherish corruption, licentiousness 
and vice. They destroy the spiritual life of the world. They bring 
back the brute passions of man, and blight the holiest flames of his 
bosom. They pull down destruction and ruination upon their own 
race. 

Should these women vote, whom would they vote for.? Would it 
be for those that would benefit their race or their country? These 
women voted in Wyoming. To be sure the governor stated other- 
wise. Poor man he knew his position depended upon their votes, 
but judges and other impartial men have contradicted him. 

Here is where woman might right her wrongs. Here in her own 
ranks are the seducers of her race and the disgracers of womankind. 
Here is a self imposed wrong. Here she turns her powerful influence 
against the only means by which she can raise herself. 

But in thus speaking of the bad, I must not entirely overlook the 
good. A little good should cheer and encourage a brave and honest 
heart more than a great evil can depress it. 

I am deeply sensible of the fact that for many years all good and 
noble-minded women have been greatly improving the morals of 
the world, with excellent results. They have done much to suppress 
the liquor curse and the filthy use of tobacco; they have done much 
to renovate and cleanse the world from the sickly pools of vice and sin. 

I acknowledge that "taxation without representation" has a harsh 
sound. But here, as elsewhere, we will have to sift the sense from 
the sound. Every married lady in the land is represented in her 
husband, or at least that affair depends upon her, her husband is 
represented in the government of the country, therefore she is 
represented in the government. 

There are, indeed, widows and unmarried ladies, but these are 
exceptions, and surely, laws cannot be made for exceptions: but, 
blush, my country, blush for very shame when you would injure 
those, in person or property. 

I cannot think and I do not believe that the majority of good and 
intelligent women would wish to vote; but those that do must 
remember that should they vote they would have to take all the 
responsibility that a vote involves. All those agitators seem agreed 
that man is naturally stronger than woman, and the history of the 
world proves it. 

But, now, can it be possible that an intelligent Creator would 
give more physical force to man, and not give him more of that kind 
of mental power that is necessary for the management of force? 
We would be surprised were we to see a wagoner entrust his team to 
a man that is not able to manage it, but how preposterous to impute 
this to the God of nature, who governs everything in the universe 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 35 

with exact laws, descending to the minutest particulars, to the one 
ten-millionth of a hair's breadth does he fit everything by His com- 
pensation laws exactly in their places. 

Do not let it be understood that I say that woman is mentally 
inferior to man. In the mental faculties that are necessary to her 
nature she is, of course, his superior, while he is superior in the 
qualifications necessary to his own sphere. 

It is a common fact that boys are more proficient in mathematics, 
logic, government and law; while literature, classics, music and the 
more delicate arts are more congenial to her mind. The nations, 
and more particularly America, are devoting more time and money 
to the education of women. 

A woman's infiuence is being found to be all-powerful, that she 
holds in her hands an enormous power for good or evil, I may say 
that she almost has charge of the morals of the country. The 
mother's infiuence extends through the length and breadth of the 
land; it molds the opinions and stamps the minds of the nation. 
And as education is the hand-maid of religion and of all cultivation, 
the country is beginning to realize that in order to give it the best 
and greatest effect, that influence must be educated. 

But, returning, to the main question, voting would render woman 
liable to fill any position in the land, from the government of the 
army to the protection of the peace; it would require her, in time of 
war, to shoulder the musket and fight in the ranks. And if thus 
for the protection of the country she would use her strength, why 
not for the advancement of the country, to till the soil, to work as a 
laborer on public works, to work as a carter, a mason and a carpenter.'* 

The conclusion is just, logical and inevitable. An honorable 
gentleman has stated that the mouth is not all there is to a river, 
and suggests the hospital and numerous other duties she might 
perform in time of danger. I cordially agree with him and state, 
moreover, that woman is the secret power and life of the country. I 
recognize the invaluable assistance that she lends at such times. 

Her patriotism is just as pure as her husband's, her sacrifice, just 
as great. In the expressive language of the poet: 

"The mother who conceals her grief, 
While to her breast her son she presses. 
Then breathes a few brave words and brief 
Kissing the patriot brow she blesses, 
With no one but her secret God, 
To know the grief that weighs upon her, 
Sheds holy blood as e'er the sod 
Received on freedom's field of honor!" 

But notice that it is in her proper position that she can lend such 
assistance, as the gentleman unconsciously admits when he suggests 
the hospital. Should woman vote, she would not be allowed to 



36 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

remain in the hospital, any more than man, as well as him she would 
be sent to the front to be butchered. That is their requirements 
would bring her into physical competition with man. 

But that is exactly where she has been since the beginning of the 
world. That is where ignorance, barbarism and cruelty has placed 
her. But mark, mark the infinite wisdom of the plan that would force 
woman out of her position; that would now in the morning of her 
hope, when she sees upon the heights above her, the zenith of her 
glory, radiating in the fullness of her virtue and purity, resplendent 
in the fulfillment of those designs that the creator impressed upon 
her very soul: O, what injustice, what fiendish inhumanity that (re- 
mainder lost). 

WHAT MAKES GREAT MEN.? 

We, as mortals, judging from a human standpoint, must acknowl- 
edge that man has accomplished much, has made wonderful advance- 
ment in the things that tend to raise and exalt him in his position as 
man. So also might the ant or the spider pride himself on the works 
of his race. 

But when we take a broader view, and compare man's works, 
with the boundless, omnipotent works and forces of nature, we can 
only comprehend the nothingness of all earthly creatures. Man sees 
the lightning flashing in the sky; he beholds the light and darkness 
successively enshroud him; he feels the gravitation bearing him to 
the earth; on the dark waters of the deep he knows North, South, 
East and W^est from the indications of the compass. 

But does he know the origin of light or darkness? Can he compre- 
hend that power that binds him to the earth? The magnet and the 
compass teach him, but who taught the compass? Can he tell 
whence came his very existence? Knows he what life is? He may, 
indeed, define one thing in terms of another, but when he endeavors 
to find the origin of it all, he is lost. The infinitely great and the 
little are both eternities to him, they are far beyond his reach. 

What knowledge he has must be of the middle ground upon which 
he exists; all his greatness must be confined to it, and his knowledge 
of what is beyond, must be derived from the likeness of that to this, 
or from revelation. When we read the proverbs of Solomon, we 
readily perceive that his wisdom lay in his deep and thorough knowl- 
edge of nature, of mankind, and in his experienced deductions from 
that knowledge. 

When we read Shakespeare, we observe that his greatness was 
founded upon his knowledge of nature, in his delineations of human 
passions; then in drawing his own mighty conclusions from all of 
which, he has been styled the greatest of poets, of dramatists and of 
orators. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 37 

The astronomers that could discern the laws that regulated the 
heavenly bodies, have been called wise, and esteemed great, in all 
ages. The old philosophers, cogitating upon nature, cried "Eureka" 
when they discovered some of her secrets, and esteemed that knowl- 
edge above silver and gold. 

The painters, sculptors, poets and orators that could depict, 
naturally, the various phases of earth and sky, and the different 
emotions of the human breast, either in their works actually trans- 
cribed from nature, or those of their own conception, have been 
accounted great in all times. 

If, then, those persons that could describe the mere surface, the 
mere outward appearances, were great, how much greater those 
persons must have been, that could not only appreciate the outward 
forms, but could penetrate beneath, show their hidden beauties and 
the powers that moved and animated them. 

Thus, taking the world's great men in a body, we find that the 
gigantic figures in science, in literature and in art, were the persons 
that communed with nature, and drew their knowledge from her, 
and as we move down the long line of figures, we find that as they 
departed from her, they degenerated, till many of them have ended 
in the regions of fancy, fiction and sentimental twaddle. Then it 
is not a wonderful or a supernatural sense, nor a knowledge of things, 
of which we know nothing, that is needful to make men great, but it is 
good, sturdy, penetrating common sense. 

It is a sense that can judge of the things that are lying all about us, 
that are staring us in our very eyes, day after day; things that all, 
but fools, cannot fail to perceive, and which, all but fools, ought 
to observe and study. 

Common sense is necessary for success in any walk in life, whether 
it be simple or elaborate, high or low, because, as we have seen, it 
lies at the very root of everything that is worth striving for. 

Common sense is the only thing that can simplify the intricacies 
of Philosophy, of Botany, of Geology, of Greek, of Latin, of Juris- 
prudence, of the Mathematics, of Ethics, of Calisthenics or of any 
other pursuit that engages the attention of men. 

For when we come down to prime principles, the greatest philoso- 
phers in the world can only say, "It is because it is so," for which proof 
they trust the evidence of their senses. If we continue the theory, 
we can only prove the second step by the first, or some other equally 
true; and thus continue it, till it branches out into all the knowledge 
that man possesses. 

It would be folly to deny that the mental gifts of men differ, but 
at the same time I firmly believe that the difference between the 
majority of persons, and the greatness of most great men, is due more 
to industry and common sense on their own part, than to any 



38 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

extraordinary original endowment; also, when fully developed, if one 
person should be superior to another in some of his faculties, he 
would be inferior in others and that in the same department men's 
knowledge would differ more in amount, than in kind. 

Then, it is necessary at first that a person be not a fool, and I am 
of the opinion that God made but very few fools, and then it is 
essential that he should study and work to gain common sense, 
which consists in knowing things to be what they are. 

It is needful at the very beginning, that he should overcome 
indolence, which is the very image and essence of Death, nay worse, 
it is a fruitful source of crime and wickedness. This study cannot 
be light and superficial, but must be deep and penetrating. 

Truth is stronger than fiction, and indefatigable perseverance and 
ardor, that delights in difficulties, is the only thing that can acquire 
that truth. But in this acquisition, it is still necessary that common 
sense as well as memory be used. 

A person might learn the dictionary, word for word, and repeat 
so much of it, in its regular order, when he wished to say anything, 
but it is only a common sense idea that can manipulate it, and 
give it force and power. Many animals can be said to nearly equal 
man in point of memory and a phonograph is vastly better in that 
respect, but yet I find many persons that persevere in learning their 
lessons parrot fashion. 

Therefore your work must be earnest and comprehensive, and to be 
thus you must have a love of your occupation, which would produce 
industry, which would unite with, and strengthen common sense, 
would be an excellent imitation of genius. If you have no interest 
in what you are doing, pretend you have, and, as has been well said, 
in time you will really have it. It has been urged that a love of fame 
is a wonderful producer of (portion lost) unless he uses what is given 
him, the greatest genius is necessarily weak and useless. So if a boy, 
at school, through natural ability, is enabled to learn the ordinary 
lessons with greater ease than his mates, he is apt to get careless and 
lazy, makes no effort and thus sinks down before he has acquired any 
real knowledge, and waits for fortune to make him a Milton or a 
Kepler. 

So great natural ability may be not only a hinderance, in the 
acquisition of knowledge, but may be the destruction of the only 
means from which it can be obtained, namely, labor. Thus a great 
man is simply a man that does his duty and makes the most of his 
advantages. And Greatness, so called, is founded on common sense 
cemented with character (remainder lost). 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 39 

A MONKEY'S ACCOUNT OF CIVILIZATION 

Dear brother of the primeval forest, with what emotions do I 
again behold your festive countenances! I bring you glad tidings 
from my observations upon what is called civilization by the peculiar 
creatures among whom I have been living. Those creatures are very 
powerful and cunning : and as you all have considerable talent in the 
latter direction, I want to increase your natural abilities by a few 
hints that I have received from them. 

In the first place you are too silly and incautious, lacking the power 
of concealing what you have in mind. My successful Christian 
friends are much wiser than you in this respect. To be sure, a few 
thousand years ago, if a man wanted to kill another, he generally did 
it without much dissimulation; but now the thing called civilization 
is doin^ much to soften that uncomfortable method. 

There is just starting up among them a glorious theory, known as 
the "Perfectibility of Species," upon which I shall hereafter enlarge. 
And that principle of our common nature that I observe in you, when 
you growl and bite each others' tails, in our civilized friends assumes 
a different form. 

That ugly element that disturbs us so unpleasantly down here, 
becomes purified and refined as it passes through difl'erent stages of 
animal life, until in man it exists in those intricate ways known as 
Pretense and Purpose. A principle of action may be expressed in a 
few words, and so, to prove what I have been saying, I subjoin a few 
of those that I have copied from the books of their sages: 

"Do unto others as you would be done by." 

"Love thy neighbor as thyself." 

"Do good to those that hate you." 

"Bless those that curse you." 

"Seek justice equally amidst the gifts of the rich, and the sighs 
and entreaties of the poor." 

"Do good by stealth and blush to find it fame!" 

Those are very liberal, and nobody can take ofl^ense at them. But 
also some one has incautiously said: "To judge every man according 
to his work," and so judging from the actions of men, I have concluded 
that the following precepts, that I have prepared for your benefit, 
must be the ones that they really follow: 

Suspect every man. 

Hate all men. 

Consider thyself before all others. 

Do evil that good may come of it. 

Injure thy brother for six days that he may need thy prayers on the 
seventh. 

Let not thy cruel act be discovered, for in that consists the crime. 



40 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Do thou those things, for all others do likewise. 
The combination of those two systems, namely, an outward 
pretense and an inward purpose, does away with a great deal of use- 
less exertion, besides avoiding an appearance of vulgarity, although 
it is harshly termed hypocrisy by some fanatics. But what's in a 
name? Again, the idea is advancement; though, to tell the truth, 
I don't know but that you are as happy now as if you wore pantaloons. 
Beloved brethren, you have often noticed the gazelle lift up its 
head and snort at the sky, before bounding over the plains : thus does 
man lift up his head, clasp his hands and groan at something up in the 
sky. 

He raves of Honor, Justice and other imaginary things. But 
look you, 'tis Power he worships. Two or three of his associates are 
affected by a man of little power; but all human creatures bow to a 
few kings, emperors and presidents. So it is with us: a butterfly is 
noticed but little; a mosquito more because of its sting. And the 
tiger rules the forests, because of its jaws and paws. 

When you enter a garden, each one of you tries to appropriate the 
greatest amount of vegetable matter for himself. But in selfish 
propensities man far exceeds you. Their existence is a continuous 
turmoil of struggling and battling. They are all tyrants, tyrants small 
and great, trampling, scorning those beneath them, fighting fiercely 
those around them, and exhorting and cursing those above them. 

Now mind, brothers, that although men get very proud sometimes, 
and talk much of things without substance, I notice that for the most 
part, they partake of food pretty regularly; if they are hurt, they 
feel it; if they are cut they bleed as we do; and their young men 
have what they call mustaches on the upper lip as we do all over the 
body. 

When we want to express our feelings, you know that we are quite 
forcible; but they express in what seems an intelligible way to them 
and with greater ease. They open and shut their mouths ; sometimes 
twist their tongues, and sometimes shake their forepaws, or rather 
fists. And occasionally they scream in unison, as we have heard the 
jackals, and hyenas chorus at midnight. 

They talk a great deal about their reason and thinking powers; 
but those results they arrive at only by experience. They have to go 
to Asia to describe it; they have to taste cider to know how it tastes. 
Some of them, it is true, write of things they have neither seen nor 
heard. Formerly those were called fools; but civilization calls them 
philosophers. 

Doubtless you have often seen a lion's cave surrounded with the 
bones of its prey. Man's dwelling is somewhat different; and he is 
wise enough to remove the remains of his victims, to avoid hurting 
anyone's feelings and to keep up appearances. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 41 

If he is a great conquerer, he leaves the slain to rot on the battle- 
field, if he is a millionaire, he lion-like crushes his victims with the 
jaws of foreclosing mortgages; if he is a common man, he quietly 
poisons his neighbors with his tongue barbed with slander. 

There are many other points of similarity between you and the 
human race: that is all very good for it tends to bring you up to be 
justly considered. But they carry the analysis too far down to bring 
credit to you; for they talk of mixing sand under chemical laws, and 
by exposing it to certain degrees of heat and light, etc., they can 
produce all kinds of animals from it. 

Now, of course, this is a grand principle; but they ought not abuse 
it. But at any rate you are being recognized; your rights are being 
vindicated. Your good day has come. Thus scamper ye, joyfully 
through the verdant forests; chatter ye among the leafy branches, 
and hang by the tails to the long, strong boughs. 

Moral 
That's what the monkey thought. 

Question 

How far was the monkey wrong? I pray you ponder those argu- 
ments, well, for in them are embodied most of the doubts of modern 
infidelity. 

A FEW THOUGHTS ON GOVERNMENT AND ITS FORMS 

From the instincts of its nature, the human family is gregarious. 

In the result of this instinct, namely the collection of men, the 
necessity of government in some form must have been apparent. 
But how the first form of government, the patriarchal, originated, 
whether through a sense of filial duty, personal fear, or through love 
of order, and discipline, it probably would be difficult to determine. 
But certain it is that it was soon affected by personal ambition, love 
of glory, and by that element of man's nature that urges him to be 
superior to his neighbor. 

Now, as a starting point, it must be obvious that the foundation, 
as well as the aim and end of all government must be in the people 
and for the people. Kings do not reign in forests, with trees for 
courtiers; nor emperors, in desert realms. 

The people, no matter how much they are ignored or despised, 
constitute the whole life and power of it all. Governors, Kings and 
emperors are but straws on the ocean of political life. Rulers must 
accommodate themselves to the conditions of the ruled, whose off- 
spring they are. 

Then, every tree is known by its fruit. Thus, from principles, it 



42 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

appears to me that, within an approximate degree, the government of 
every nation is exactly adapted to it. 

Alexander and Sesostris fought with warlike races; and were 
tyrannical when tyranny was the order of the day. Sardanapalus 
was licentious among a licentious people, in a licentious age. The 
people were as base as the government itself. For were it otherwise, 
how could the strength of one avail against the force of millions or 
drive them to that at which their hearts revolted in union? No, 
all these things are true for the same reason that we can ignite com- 
bustibles. Those chance figures that appear to us in history are but 
the fire-brands ; and failures are caused by attempting to burn water. 

Let a king be firmly seated on his throne, sustained in his position 
by a long line of predecessors and by an army well chosen and wisely 
directed, and his encroachments upon his subjects are tolerated only 
because they think, and that thinking has become a part of their 
existence, that it is right, and they yield to it as to the voice of destiny; 
until perchance some indignant spirit terminates the monarch's 
infamous career by the assassin's knife. 

Again, let some appreciable portion of the human race, for instance 
America, become expanded as to their intellects in some movement of 
reform or improvement and the sleeping senses of the world will 
become slowly aroused from their lethargy; their energies will slowly 
gather and concentrate, and, like the volcanic fires in the earth, they 
must eventually burst their barriers. Hence, Macaulay says: 
"It is a principle never to be forgotten, that it is not by absolute but 
by relative misgovernment that nations are roused to madness." 

The growth of the people's sentiments and opinions is slow but it is 
as resistless as the waves of the ocean. On this point, therefore, I 
conclude with a French author, that forms of government are like 
forms of shoe-soles, they should be made to fit the feet that wear 
them. There are some seeming exceptions, but I think they can be 
explained on the same principle. 

As when small states or small divisions of the body politic, which 
cannot greatly vary or effect the world at large, which fact must be 
the cause of the consequence, become exposed to the full fury and 
in-born malignity of conquering nations and superior powers. Bear 
witness struggling Poland and seditious Ireland. 

During the first four thousand years of man's existence, brute 
strength and the force of the sword were the sole supporters of all 
government and dominion. All the people of the world were divided 
into conquerors and slaves. But at the end of that period, a revolu- 
tion occurred that undermined the thrones of kings and must finally 
destroy them. 

That revolution was Christianity. It casts to the winds the 
"divine rights of kings"; it teaches the insignificance of the greatest 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 43 

of earthly powers, and the divine rights of all men. It turns the rod 
of oppression from the peasant back, as well as frees his mind from the 
shackles of superstition. 

A fact of fearful import to those that would secularize the affairs of 
state. In short, its tendency is to change the entire nature of govern- 
ment as it has formerly existed; and the works, improvements and 
inventions of genius and industry strengthen and support it. "And 
thereby hangs a tale." 

It shows that the mass of men need some outward force, some power- 
ful, active stimulant to raise them to that scale of existence that is 
worthy of men. I know of nothing, in the history of events that 
warrants any other conclusion. 

I do not believe in monarchies, because I do not like to see the 
rights of the many usurped by the few; the few in opulence, the 
many groaning in misery and want. I do not like to see one worthless, 
talentless man — in the language of Napoleon, a "hereditary donkey " — 
glutting himself upon the fruit of the toil of millions: sucking the 
heart's blood from the wasted skeleton of man's divinity, vulture- 
like preying upon the corpse of the public prosperity, rearing his 
dominion upon desolation and the destruction of all virtue, goodness, 
holiness and happiness. 

How can a frail human creature stand up in the presence of his 
Maker and claim the right to deprive his fellow-creatures of their 
birth-rights, of the privilege of enjoying the happiness of this world, 
of what the heavens beam upon and of exercising his faculties upon 
them? It is wrong, darkly, hideously wrong. All monarchies are 
not as bad as this, for the reason that they dare not be; but all 
experience demonstrates that it is the innate tendency and natural 
direction of all monarchial institutions. 

Pure democracy is better. For the people are to a certain degree 
their own possession; and if they are to be destroyed, it is more 
fitting that they should be their own executioners. Yet, it is not 
right. The excesses of the people are much more to be feared than 
those of sovereigns, from the reason of their predominance of power. 

All men must agree that the aim of government should be for justice 
and for right. The vilest monarch that ever wielded scepter exhibited 
some discipline and pretended some justice; but, the nature of the 
case and the manner the people have ever conducted themselves show 
the futility of intrusting in their hands for inviolability, truth, justice 
or right. In order to practice these virtues, the faculties of their 
being must be educated, morally and intellectually, to an appreciation 
of them. And this is the grandest field of labor in which genius can 
exert itself, and accordingly in every country its martyrs and patriots 
are venerated while a trace of manhood or human gratitude remains. 

It was formerly urged against democracy that it tended towards 



44 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

ochlocracy or government by the rabble. But America, which 
approaches the nearest of any nation to a democratical form of govern- 
ment, shows that its tendency is in two opposite directions: towards 
timocracy or government by the rich, as shown in the increasing 
wealth and consequent power of many citizens; and towards ochlo- 
cracy or rabble government, as exhibited in the deepening poverty of 
the poor, and its occasional demonstration in riots and the like. 

But a thorough democracy, a thorough personal government is an 
absurd, unnatural impossibility. All men cannot be put on the same 
footing in respect to talents and ability, any more than they can be 
equalized in respect to physical strength. 

In every family and in every gathering and convention of people, 
whether on the streets or in the halls of the senate, some few are 
always found that surpass all the rest. That infidel sentiment of 
Macchiavelli that every man has all the right he can assert, when 
applied in the broader light of Christianity contains much truth. 

I have told of those forms in which I do not believe and I will now 
speak of that in which I have faith. Far away, in the dim light of 
the future, my imagination can picture a land smiling with fertility 
and abundance, where dwell an honest, industrious, intelligent, 
religious people. Let me imagine this happy race, in the fulfillment 
of the conditions of their nature, with their energies wrought up to 
the highest tension of exertion, governed by those who in all respects 
have proved themselves to be the strongest, ablest, most enduring in 
the contest. 

But, as no one is wise at all times, and as human nature is liable to 
depravity, and, lest they infringe upon the prerogatives of the people, 
or lest the people seduce them from the exercise of the strictest 
principles of right, or lest they themselves err in judgment or policy, 
let the "ship of state" be anchored upon a constitution, framed from 
the acme of human wisdom. 

Thus, I believe in an aristocratic republic, not in the meaning of 
"Aristocracy" as generally understood, but, according to its deriva- 
tive sense, i. e., a government by the best. But this is indeed Utopian, 
oT TOTos, a place that is not. And with the people that now exist it 
is certainly best as it is. 

It is to be hoped that the tendency of the world is in this direction, 
and should it ever be attained it will be by natural, healthy growth 
not by revolutions or sudden changes. 

THOUGHTS AND INSPIRATIONS OCCASIONED BY MUSIC 

The senses of touch and taste are sources of corruption and debase- 
ment. They fill us with a knowledge of our weakness. Even the 
sense of sight, though it be the master sense, connects us with things 
material and gross. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 45 

But the sense of hearing, at its perfection, which I take is in the 
reception of music, makes us forget for the time our mortahty and 
though it recalls sorrow and adversity, it refines our whole existence. 

Hence it seems to me that crime is foreign to the character of natural 
musicians; and when I see one fallen, I immediately think that his 
nature, which is doubly strong, has been exerted in a wrong direc- 
tion, so that the fall is doubly great. 

Man is subject to ever varying moods, moods changing as often as 
the aspect of nature around him; to-day he is silent and restless, 
to-morrow, loquacious and vigorous; now, slow and thoughtful, 
anon active and resolute. 

Music seems to be almost perfect master of these moods, tuning 
man at its pleasure; mingling, as it does, past, present and future 
into one grand harmony. Now it rushes over him in torrents of 
sadness, overwhelming his naind in gloom, moving before his mind's 
eye sad, sorrowful pictures and it chokes him with grief and anguish. 

But now it thrills him with delight; his soul is bathed in rapture; sun- 
shine dances before his vision; his heart bounds joyfully; the music per- 
meates every pore of his being, trembles on his very finger tips in floods 
of bliss. Now it bursts forth in swelling thunders of indignation; 
his heart leaps in anger; his nerves are strung for vengeance; scorn is 
on his lip, and lightnings flash from his eyes. What characteristic is 
there, worthy of human beings, that has not been ennobled and puri- 
fied by the influence of music .-^ Ask patriotism. It will answer : 

In the songs of a nation is seen the people's love for their country. 
In these the mountain streams, the hills and vales of his native land 
are endeared and perpetuated to him. In them he recalls the pleas- 
ures, follies and sorrows of youth. Even in foreign lands his eye 
will gleam, as the old familiar song recalls his early manhood. They 
were thoughts like these that stole over Richard the Lion-hearted 
in the Austrian stronghold, as the strains of his favorite minstrel 
broke upon his ear. 

In peace, the musician keeps the spirit of Liberty alive, perhaps, 
better than even the orator. And in time of danger, patriots are 
roused to action by the sound of music; it urges them to clutch the 
musket; it nerves them in the heat of battle, and hurls them in 
power upon the enemy. 

When the war is finished, they march back in triumph, to the sound 
of martial music; and their heroic deeds, celebrated in song, cause 
others to follow in their footsteps, and emulate their glory. By most 
nations — even the most savage — music is used in the religious 
ceremonies. 

The disciples of religion are inspired with a greater zeal in their 
cause by the power of music. It soothes their aflBictions and adversi- 
ties, lifts them high above the powers of darkness. They pour forth 



46 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

glad songs of praise and thanksgiving, and in their glowing imagina- 
tions they see the choral angels circling the throne with their rapturous 
hosannas. Even the slowly plodding scientist confesses the power of 
music. 

It collects his dozing faculties, quickens his slow wits, and raises 
his thoughts, wave upon wave, as it comes to his ear, and bearing 
him aloft to the vertex of inspiration, it pours light in upon his 
bewildered brain. 

O music, food of love, language of the soul, I will close your praise 
with the words of Shakespeare: "Therefore the poet did feign that 
Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods; since naught so stockish, 
hard and full of race, but music for the time doth change his nature, 
the man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord 
of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils, the motions 
of his spirit are chill as night, and his affections dark as Erebus; let 
no such man be trusted." 



WHERE DID WASHINGTON EXHIBIT THE 
GREATEST GENERALSHIP? 

God made every man for some distinct purpose: and as we look 
back through history, over the pinnacles of human events, we see 
that where great men have been needed they have been supplied; 
just as we see ordinary beings supplied for ordinary purposes, in 
every day life. 

When the Persian hordes swept down upon the Grecian republic, 
Greece had her Alexander, Miltiades and Themistocles; Rome, her 
Caesar to mold the barbarians into her civilization; France had her 
Napoleon to smash the ancient monarchies of modern Europe, and it 
was right that on the virgin soil of America, Liberty should have such 
a noble architect as George Washington to build her shrine. 

I am asked, "Where did he exhibit the greatest generalship.'*" 
Shall I search his records and tell in what particular instance the 
greatest foresight, prudence or courage was exhibited? Not so. 
I shall tell of the generalship that necessitated these results, go back 
to the prime cause of all his fortunes, and answer without hesitation, 
"In the command of his spirits." 

For truly the Scriptures say, "He that ruleth his spirit is greater 
than he that taketh the city"; and though Washington did both, 
the latter was the result of the former. Washington was a man of 
ordinary genius, and had he been supported by his original gifts 
alone, his name would never have reached the page of history. 

But it was not a genius that Liberty required for her champion. 
And how beautiful, when contrasted with the bloody, selfish, sensual 
laurels of ancient and modern leaders, is the truth, justice, upright- 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 47 

ness, perseverance and patriotism of Washington. He was a man 
in whom every mean desire, every base fear, every low thought and 
every cowardly avarice, was instantly crushed and banished; he was 
a man in whom the spiritual life was pre-eminently superior to the 
sensual; he was a man of a firm, true heart, and a sound head. 

As an instance of his well-known purity of character, it might 
be mentioned that flour, bearing his brand passed without inspection 
in the East Indies — a human being whose honesty extended from one 
side of the globe to the other ! 

When we thus contemplate his sterling character; the matchless 
organization of his whole being, how can we wonder at his accomplish- 
ments of after years.? How can we wonder at him, yet a young man 
braving the dangers of Indian warfare with matchless courage. 

Now thrusting the glove of defiance in the face of tyrannical 
England, though his half-starved countrymen were dying on the 
frozen hills of the new world; now outwitting his enemies within the 
fortifications of Boston; now crossing the dark and ice blocked 
Delaware; now hurling down the dejected Britishers on the plains 
of Yorktown; now in the presidential chair, laying the foundation 
of the national prosperity, by his farseeing policy. Oh! What a 
difference between this man (The remainder lost. Judging by the 
writing he was probably sixteen years of age when he wrote it. He 
may have been younger.) 

ADVICE TO A YOUNG AMERICAN 

My dear boy, on account of my vast superiority over you in point 
of age and experience, I feel it incumbent upon me to give you a few 
words of advice. In order that you may the better appreciate what 
follows, I will commence by telling you that you are your own best 
counselor; and my advice to you is like seed placed in the earth, if 
the soil is good the seed will grow, if barren, it will die. 

The experience that you have already acquired may teach you, 
as mine has long since taught me, the necessity of developing a good 
system of philosophy. For, indeed, every person above the order 
of brutes must be a philosopher, to some degree. 

Philosophy is but the arrangement or classification of ideas — or 
more exactly, it is the science of principles in their relation to things. 
All your actions, your disposition, and, perhaps, even your happiness 
is governed by a system of philosophy in a certain degree of perfection. 

The snarling, whining man, the jolly man, the active man, the 
lazy man, the benevolent man, the spite''ul man, the charitable man, 
the miser, the robber and the sneak thief, are all governed by their 
respective systems of philosophy in various stages of perfection. 

Now you must open your eyes and in selecting one for yourself, 



48 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

the beauty of it all consists in this, that you can take the seed and 
tell the tree by means of innumerable examples. You may judge 
if such a person is a miniature Plato, a little Socrates, an Aristotelian, 
an Epicurean, a Cynic or a stoic. You can tell if such and such 
principles are perseveringly executed, in what they will finally result. 
And in applying this knowledge to yourself you must not be con- 
tented with "avoiding extremes," but you must know where your 
journey would end ere undertaking it. 

Be cautious in your use of wise maxims, for maxims are wise only 
when applied with wisdom. A little boy having heard that a penny 
saved will make another, laid one away in a box, going regularly 
every day to behold its increase, but he at length, gave it up in 
disgust, and invested in candy. 

Cultivate and strengthen your moral power; and, of course, you 
must practise some form of divine worship. For religion constitutes 
all the coloring of life's picture, and right here in your youth determine 
whether your mind will be engaged with things base and material 
or with things intellectual and spiritual. Then, whether you be Cath- 
olic or Protestant, it is expected that you will be bigoted. Your 
fathers and grandfathers have believed as you believe; and, further- 
more, if a person attacks your opinions he attacks you, or, at least, 
that is the way it is generally regarded. 

And, perhaps, it is right and necessary that you should be kept 
within Christian limits even by zm-christian means. A whirlpool 
may prevent a vessel from drifting out to sea. Although it might be 
questioned whether it is more judicious for an Indian to bring a tiger 
into his hut to prevent his boy from going out to be devoured by one. 

But, after all, your father's religion is good enough for you, at least 
till you are able to form a sound opinion upon it yourself; and 
remember that the most contemptible fellow out of prison is the one 
that would abandon his creed for ambitious or pecuniary interests; 
then, again, that all denominations pretend to be Christian, but 
while you continue to quarrel you might as well be a Turk. 

Now, as a young pioneer in this western world you ought, of 
course, intend to make the most of yourself. Young sir, you ought 
to be making plans for the future which will gradually converge into 
the grand aim of your life. Do not waste your time in wandering 
aimlessly around, for if you do you will arrive nowhere, unless it be 
in Tramping-ton. 

"All roads may lead to Rome," but, nowadays, you'll find that 
you must take the shortest to arrive there in season. And when you 
have determined upon it, impress it upon your mind, chisel it in your 
very soul, bend all your energies to attain it, and you doubtless will. 

Out of duty to yourself and to your country, form your ideas and 
beliefs as slowly, but as firmly, as the nature of your mind will permit; 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 49 

and then act upon your ideas. It was Gladstone, I think, that said, 
"I know but Httle more than when I was twenty years old, only I 
know how to apply it better." Little principles that we have, 
probably, let in and out our ears a dozen times have made the greatest 
men that have ever lived. 

Be not discouraged with little things. It is now fifteen or sixteen 
years since you grew out of babyhood, and I hope that you have left 
all its customs behind. Use your judgment in everything. Be 
neither too particular, nor too wasteful; abstain from engaging your 
mind with little things, lest you narrow your mind to the limits of 
your contemplation. 

Words are the medium of the exchange of ideas, and I caution you 
to be much more sparing in the use of them, than in that of the 
medium of value exchange. Apportion to each word its proper 
value and esteem it for its true worth. Balance it carefully with 
the idea to be expressed before you use it. 

A man of bad judgment will put as much fury into a malediction 
upon a mosquito as a true orator would in hurling anathemas upon 
the enemies of his country. Now let me whisper a word to you about 
the ladies but tell no one what I say. 

There are two great evils that beset the path of early manhood: 
the one is laziness, the other is woman in the shape of pretty girls. 
Don't forget this, Johnnie, for 'tis true. For your friends choose 
only those in whose presence you feel some restraint, 

(A page is lost.) 

In establishing your rule of action, remember that every thought, 
that every word, that every motion, that you make, will stand as 
living precedents which you will ever unconsciously refer to in all 
your actions hereafter. 

Seize every possible opportunity to enjoy a good laugh. Let it 
flow and bubble through you, softening the dried and hardened 
portions of your soul, wearing off the sharp edges of hatred and 
oiling them, gladdening your heart, brightening your intellect, 
fattening you, and making you better all over. 

A capacity for laughter makes Christianity possible. I can make 
no better ending than with the words of the good Sir Walter Scott, 
on his deathbed, to Lockhart: "My dear, be a good man: be virtuous, 
be religious; be a good man. Nothing else will give you any comfort 
when you lie here." 



50 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

GOLD OR GREENBACKS 

{The reader should remember that this is by a boy in his mid-teens and written long 
before the profuse education in monetary matters, centering around the "16 to 1" 
controversy.) 

America is now at a crisis in which is involved the financial condi- 
tion of the country, and therefore the prosperity of the country. 
It is now at a point in its history which is to determine whether it shall 
have money which has proved its honesty in all ages and in every 
country in which it has been used ; or a currency which has disgraced 
itself in every country in which it has shown its face. 

In short whether it shall have gold or greenbacks. Let the 
nation consider the qualifications and advantages of each, and 
choose the one that can prove itself most beneficial. Money is the 
measure of value; and to measure value it must have value itself. 

For without value it could measure nothing, any more than a pinch 
of snuff could measure a barrel of wine. Its value must be steady ; as, 
unless it is steady, it would be no more convenient than a yardstick 
that would one day be 20 inches, another day 26 inches, and another, 
15 inches long. 

We learn that long before gold had been used as money, it had 
been used for various purposes, but chiefly for ornament. The 
architect adorned his temples with it; the priest consecrated it to 
his gods; the king was crowned with gold; the queen flashed in 
golden jewels, and even the savage was fascinated with the luster of 
silver and gold. 

There having been a demand for it, it was therefore produced; 
and as the world advanced, new gold mines seem to have instinctively 
opened up, to meet the increased demand; and ranging back through 
history we find the amount of gold bearing nearly the same propor- 
tion to the demand as it does to-day. The only change of any 
extent that ever occurred was after the discovery of the mines in 
South America and Mexico. The proportionate cost of its production 
has always been nearly the same. 

Consequently, as the cost of ^production, supply and demand have 
always borne nearly the same relative proportion, the value of gold 
has always been nearly the same. It is the yardstick of value 
which is always 36 inches long. 

Now what is the value of the greenback? Whence does it get its value.? 
It does not get its value from the cost of production, for it pretends 
to be a dollar, and costs but about a mill to be produced. Then 
from what does it get its value .f* 

The greenbacker will tell you: "It is a dollar by the power and 
responsibility of the United States of America, it is a dollar by the 
rights of the people." Now nearly all the paper money that has 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 51 

ever been issued, has been based on something that had value and 
its own value has always depended on the soundness of the promise 
of redemption, and the value of the thing upon which it was based. 

For instance our government issued greenbacks in 1863 promising 
to redeem them at some future date; but as that promise dwindled 
down in the uncertainty of war times, the value of the greenback 
diminished to 35 cents each. Then as the promise of their redemption 
became stronger they increased in value, till the government promised 
to redeem them in January, 1879, when they sprang up to within 
one fourth of a cent of their face value. 

It is obvious that when the government requires the greenback 
to be changed into gold at short, regular intervals, as is the case in 
England, that one is as good as the other. For then the greenback 
represents the gold, just as a deed represents a farm. 

But when the government says that it may be converted into gold, 
but has not enough gold to do so, it is evident that the value of the 
greenback depends partly on the gold of the country, and partly 
upon its promise; then it follows that the value of that promise 
depends upon the amount of greenbacks over gold. 

Thus, the value of the greenback, which the government does not 
require to be converted into gold, is purely arbitrary. But the 
American greenbacker of 1878 does not wish to anchor this little 
vessel of his, to the harbor of Surety with the anchor of gold, and 
launches his little paper barque, bearing overhead the motto, "One 
Dollar," into the sea of promise and expectation. It reminds me 
of "tramp," down in Virginia, who put on a tall hat and said, "I am 
General Washington." 

But the greenbacker says: "The government of the people, is 
by the people, for the people; and if the laborer says that he will 
work a day for a greenback, that the farmer should say that he 
would give a bushel of wheat for it; and, in short, every man should 
promise to give so much of his wealth for it. Then is the greenback 
not redeemed every time an exchange is made with one of those 
parties? 

"What other redemption does man need but that which will 
furnish him with the necessaries and luxuries of life.'^ Supposing a 
traveller is crossing a desert, can a piece of your gold satisfy the 
cravings of his appetite, or appease his thirst, or clothe the nakedness 
of his body." 

No, neither does gold pretend it will; money was not made for 
deserts or hermits, but for the convenience of civilization and society, 
and that being true we want that money which will do society the 
most good. 

In the supposition that each person should promise to give so 
much for a greenback, the value of the greenback would depend 



52 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

entirely upon the worth of the promise; then comes the question, 
"How much is the promise worth?" 

Is it possible that an able and skilled workman will promise to 
work for as little as a poor one? Or that a farmer should promise 
to give as much wheat when it is difficult to raise it, as when he can 
raise it without scarcely any trouble? 

These suppositions would be ridiculous. When the greenback 
is thus based on the products of the country it will vary as the cost 
of production of these articles, which changes almost as fast as the 
weather. The value of our money would be affected by every breeze 
that would blow over the fields, not only that but its manifest dis- 
honesty would produce a lack of confidence toward it which would 
tend to destroy it. 

Even, if at the outstart a greenback would be worth as much as 
a gold dollar, another cause would greatly destroy its value. There 
is but a certain amount of money required to transact the business 
of the country, but when there is more than enough to perform that 
function, the value of each dollar must change according to the over 
supply; unless it can be turned to some other purpose equally 
important. Just as, when at a certain business, there are more 
laborers than work the wages of each must decrease, unless he can 
find work at some other business which pays as much. 

There never has been an oversupply of gold for money; but even 
if there should be, its value for jewelry is nearly as great, unless 
the supply should be too great, which a record of three thousand years 
does not show. A greenback, for anything except money, is worth no 
more than any piece of paper of the same size, which is about 1/1000 
of its face value. 

Yet in every country in which it has been issued, regardless of 
whatever restrictions might have been imposed upon it at first, it 
has been rushed into the circulation until at length the hugely 
expanded bubble burst leaving a very small sediment behind. 

Thus the value of the greenback would depreciate with threefold 
quickness; yet it would be legal tender and would pay debts for its 
face value. A man might contract a debt when the greenback would 
be at its maximum value and could pay it with the same number of 
greenbacks when the value of each would be worth but one half 
what they were when he made the debt. 

The laboring man, whom it pretends to succor, it would hit with 
double violence, for the producer of any raw article would know that 
the greenbacks, with which he would be paid, would depreciate, and 
would therefore charge enough extra to ensure himself; the manu- 
facturer of this article would do likewise; ditto, the wholesale and 
retail dealers; and when it comes to the laborer for consumption, 
with what does he pay for it? The employer, for whom he works. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 53 

cannot invest his capital for nothing, he must therefore protect himself 
against loss by the depreciation of the greenback and must, therefore, 
deduct from the laborers' wages ; and with these diminished wages he 
goes to pay for his food and clothing, the price of which would be 
largely increased by these redoubled insurances. 

If a man should save a few of those greenbacks it would be a good 
deal like saving fall apples for the winter; when you come to use 
them, you find them half decayed, just as the greenback would be by 
depreciation. Not only would it hurt the other classes of society 
indirectly, by hurting the laborer, but it also would hurt them 
directly. 

The debts of the business man would be insecure; the fluctuation 
of the greenback often exceeding his calculation, thus causing him 
to sustain losses; and as always has been the case business men are 
loath to invest their capital in such uncertain times and then, like 
the unprofitable servant, they lose money which they would have 
gained in times of security; many business men would leave the 
country, taking their capital and investing profitably abroad. 

Thus irredeemable paper money is a money of fraud and specula- 
tion; it would go from one party to the other, choking labor, stifling 
capital and paving the way for wrecklessness, idleness and theft. As 
a requisite of money, gold and silver have large value in small space 
and weight. 

If greenbacks were immediately convertible into gold, this matter 
of convenience would be of considerable importance in its favor. 
But it would be as much easier for a workman to carry home his 
wages in silver and gold, than in irredeemable greenbacks, as it 
would for him to carry home a stomach filled with food, than one 
filled with air, though the latter is the lighter. 

The counterfeiter wastes his brains endeavoring to imitate gold, 
nothing but gold can successfully imitate gold; the "ring" of gold 
cannot be produced by any baser metal. In making paper money 
counterfeiters are perfectly at home, and have done an extensive 
business at it in this country alone. For instance in 1875 the fifty 
cent scrip had been so dangerously counterfeited, that it had to be 
withdrawn from circulation, and the plate changed. 

In order to counterfeit gold money, the thief has to have the 
bullion, then he finds it greatly to his advantage to be honest; for 
he can get nearly as much for his bullion, as though it were coined 
money, and make the exchange too without incurring any risk to 
himself. To counterfeit greenbacks all the thief has to have is a pile 
of paper, a printing press and a little ingenuity, to make money 
nearly as well as the government. 

The greenbacker says that he wants a currency for America, not 
for India or China. He might assure himself of that fact, for not 



54 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

even a redeemable greenback would be received outside of the country 
which issued it; it would thoroughly protect them from the trade 
of the outside world. 

But what would the nation do in time of need or war? Would 
foreign countries send their assistance and their products to America 
to be paid in greenbacks? They could make enough of that kind 
of money at home, without sending their goods to this country to 
get it. 

Silver and gold on the contrary are recognized as money by the 
whole civilized world, and even the savages exchange their goods for it. 

Therefore gold and silver approach nearer the requirements of 
money than any other article, make the best money; and greenbacks, 
unless immediately convertible into gold, do not make good money. 

Then let America pay her debts honestly. In an hour of desperate 
need this money had been lent by foreigners, as well as private 
individuals in this country; and without this money with what would 
the arms, ammunitions and provisions of war been furnished? With 
what would the soldiers have been paid? And in short, what would 
have become of the Union itself, of our boasted strength and liberty 
bought by the blood of the patriots of 1776? 

Then let America be true to its faithful promises and sacred pledges. 
The nation can no more discharge its debts with spurious greenbacks, 
than a business man can pay for his goods by giving, in return for 
them, his note. A nation is a collection of individuals, and what is 
true of the individual ought to be true of the nation. 

In conclusion, I would like to say that if the government can dis- 
charge its debts in such an easy way, why cannot the school boy 
improve the occasion and do likewise? So that when Friday comes 
around with its dread requirements, he might write the words, "This 
is a composition," on a piece of paper and gravely hand it in, for its 
face value. 

THE WANTS OF THE AGE 

All of us are influenced by our surroundings. The people with 
whom we associate, the books that we read, the philosophy of the 
age have a powerful and generally an all-controlling influence upon 
character. There are very few persons in the history of the world 
that have risen above the age in which they lived, and very few have 
fallen below it. 

Then, that we may be true to ourselves and to that ideal standard 
of right, which every one must have, we should understand the defects 
of the times in which we live. We are told that it is wrong to look 
upon the dark side; that we ought to cheer ourselves with the knowl- 
edge that there is more good than bad in the world. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 55 

If we ought to do this, then we ought to abandon our clergymen, 
our doctors, our teachers, our philosophers and moralists, all of whom 
do little more than continually remind us of our faults. 

Does the doctor content himself with the thought that there is yet 
life in his patient, or does he grapple with the disease itself? Is the 
man whose house is on fire, satisfied to know that much is yet unin- 
jured, or does he try to stifle the flames? 

I ask ye that study Greek, is our teacher content with some flowery 
spot in our declension, or does he unsparingly pluck up the weedy 
growth of our moods and tenses? 

It is best, cheered by the inevitable dominion of justice and virtue, 
to attempt to find out what is wrong and faulty, that we may avoid 
it; and though our efforts be as the drop of water in the ocean, still 
we can do our part and rectify that for which we are responsible. 

Taking as comprehensive a view of the times as possible, it seems to 
me that this is a hollow age, lacking in depth of religion, morality, 
thought and feeling. The sad disclosures, that are, and have been, 
constantly coming to light from different parts of the civilized world, 
show that the religious opinions and customs of the people are too 
much influenced by outward, public considerations. 

Thus the moral code that emanates from it must be of the same 
nature and is tinged with the same shallowness of spirit. Children 
are often told to do right for crimes are always discovered, wrong- 
doers are always punished. And this same spirit seems to be con- 
tinued forth from the infant home into the world and to control the 
public actions of men, in a great measure. 

Merchants, bankers, lawyers, legislators recognize right much more 
for its expediency than for its eternal worth, for its intrinsic merit. 
The constitution and laws recognize no religion, though they do 
pretend a state morality. 

Thus they attempt to suppress Mormonism as dangerous to its 
morality, but they must treat it as a religion. Hence their dilemma. 
How obvious is the futility of a nation's efforts to preserve its own 
foundation, in the strong character and moral worth of its people, by 
a statement of fines and penalties when crime is discovered. 

Why, the moral life may deteriorate by degrees, the very heart of 
the nation may become decayed and rotten ere we become aware of 
it by outward indications. The laws can only smooth and polish 
the sirface, while within the vile, wickedness and venom may be 
infinite. 

It is mere fiat, superficial morality instead of that inward current 
that should force us, sweep us, right onward in the channel of recti- 
tude. This, then, is the first defect in the foundation; it is the ulcer 
in the public heart that poisons the blood in its entire circulation. 
Then out of this spirit of impiety, comes the desire to cast off author- 
ity, for the basis of all authority is in religion. 



56 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

We hear much of the freedom of thought, of speech, of act. Lib- 
erty! Hberty! comes the cry from all sides. I believe true liberty to 
be the greatest boon conferred upon man. but I detest the popular, 
delusive idea of liberty. 

True liberty is not freedom in everything we choose, it is negative, 
it is the removal from us of wrong. Instead of giving us power for 
unlimited motion in any or all directions, like a wild horse on the 
plains, or an engine turned off the track, it places us under additional 
bonds and restraint. 

The most trivial thing that we can imagine is governed by law. 
Leaves blowTi through the air, insects crawling on the ground, bubbles 
on the sea act in obedience to eternal laws. And because the great 
Author gave man partial control of his destiny by the dominion of his 
will, should he prove himself so unworthy of his trust as to attempt to 
remove all law, which would be chaos and confusion itself? 

There are two other qualities of which I would speak with reserve, 
namely, thought and feeling. They are intimately connected; and 
in the formation of character, each is the supplement of the other. 
This age has highly utilized the productions of the great minds of 
these and by-gone times. On account of the vast improvement in 
all things, thousands of miles can be traversed, mentally as well as 
bodily, with scarcely an effort. 

Thus, in embracing the universe, a small appreciation of any of it 
is obtained. But the construction of the human mind is still the 
same, and must have its own time to work, which people seem to 
partially forget in the acceleration of attainment by other agents. 
This age is a fast one; people rush on in thoughtless masses, scarcely 
heeding their "ahence or whither." We are reaping the fruits of 
others' labors, and we poorly appreciate them. 

Truly every good is accompanied by an evil. A great man has 
said that words were given us to conceal our thoughts, and observing 
the majority, one would almost be led to the same conclusion. In- 
stead of arising from within, the thoughts and actions of the people, 
to too great an extent, arise from outward sources. 

They speak a dead language, they execute dead thoughts and feel 
dead feelings. For how are they but dead, when the emotions of the 
heart and the promptings of the soul, which caused them, are gone.^ 

These, then, I believe are the defects in the principles, the results of 
which, in their concrete forms, continually pour in upon us in the 
newspapers. We see their execution in the crimes and vices of the 
land. 

Yet these defects are, to some degree, in the breasts of every one of 
us. How many of us are there who reflect that the same spirit that 
caused Nero to torture his subjects is the same one that prompts us to 
speak ill of our neighbors? 



JAMES MAHONPiY MEMORIAL 57 

Politics are now causing a great turmoil throughout the country, 
and what honest person is there who is not disgusted with the actions 
of politicians? With their personal slander, their fraud and general 
corruption? And how much worse it is to think that those are the 
chosen men of the land. They are probably, as good, or a great deal 
better than the men they represent. If this nation is to continue, 
it is not with them that the reform must commence. 

The solidity of the government can only be preserved by the deep 
honesty, by the moral worth, intelligence and integrity of its citizens. 
With these her mighty resources could be developed and her pros- 
perity and happiness continued without ceasing. 

Without these, want, wretched crime and dissolution, which are 
now advancing, would be propagated; and just as sure as others have 
fallen before, just so sure would she fall ere many centuries would 
have passed away. 

BACON'S METHOD 

Men love to anticipate, not only, it would seem, because of the sav- 
ing of effort, but also because of a mental delight in it. Hence, the 
ancient philosophers endeavored to conjure up, as it were from magic 
of their brains, new worlds, material and spiritual, instead of trying 
to find out the nature of the one God had made. 

Accordingly, their philosophies, as is showTi by their numerous 
schools, were as much expositions of individual peculiarities as uni- 
versal principles; and as those different systems passed from their 
authors to the disciples, they became filled with vain speculations, 
and perversion of sense in interpretation; and in the controversies of 
rival schools with the empty subtleties of an elusive logic and a 
mutual misconception of each other's standpoints. So that for the 
mass of mankind those philosophies lay far away in the misty cloud- 
land of abstraction, and scarcely ever gave or allowed a ray of light to 
fall upon man in his blind struggle with the terrible forces of nature. 

Thus he lived in superstitious ignorance of the world, himself and 
his relation to the world. But as the ages rolled on, a disposition to 
depart from old modes of thoughts became manifest, and waxed strong 
in Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 

Bacon was the representative and champion of this disposition. 
His method of philosophy is that of a common-sense man, who instead 
of lamenting his own frailty and the baseness of earth tries to make the 
most of his situation, to gain knowledge of, and power over, his cir- 
cumstances. 

He saw nature, an endless round of materials and forces, and man 
subsisting by it and upon it, ignorant of what it was, and exceedingly 
liable to error in his judgment. 



58 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Hence his purpose is twofold: First to show man the sources of 
error in his intellect, and, second, to give him a plan to examine and 
gain power over nature. So he enumerates four kinds of error liable 
to the human mind, which he calls idols. 

Idola Tribus, or universal errors, liable because of the constitution 
of man ; 

Idola Specus, or those that may arise from individual peculiarities; 

Idola Fori, or those that may occur by misconception in the inter- 
course of society; 

Idola Theatri, or untruths that may arise from the schools of 
philosophy. 

Man being thus cautioned with regard to himself should next pre- 
pare as complete a history as is possible of all the facts and experiments 
belonging to whatever is to be inquired into, and Bacon enumerates 
histories of many conditions of earths and air, fire and water, and man 
and other animals in their different conditions and relations. Most of 
those bodies, substances or conditions will contain several qualities 
such as density, porosity, color, brilliancy, weight, heat or fluidity; 
and these must be inquired into separately with the view of determin- 
ing their immanent supporting causes, which Bacon calls/on/?5. 

Individual facts differ in their power to illustrate any quality under 
question. Some may contain that quality in the highest degree, — 
which Bacon calls ostensive examples, — and others totally lack it and 
these are called negative examples, and between these two extremes 
Bacon enumerates twenty-five kinds of examples, according to their 
degree and manner of illustration. 

If transparency is the quality in question, a history of the materials 
that contain it together with negative instances should be prepared; 
skillful experiments should be performed upon these materials, and 
these materials, and the results with reference to transparency care- 
fully noted. Then some one substance, as glass, should be taken and 
all possible causes or forms of its transparency excluded. 

Thus glass is a solid, brittle material, and hence neither fluidity, 
porosity or malleability can account for its transparency; then like 
processes should be taken with other transparent substances, exclud- 
ing as many causes as possible till the different materials tried have 
but few principles in common that might account for it. 

Then assuming one of these as cause, endeavor should be made in 
the opposite manner by deductive reasoning, to see if it will account 
for the quality. Thus by a definite graduated round of preparation, 
experiments, induction and verification the true cause must almost 
inevitably be reached. 

From specific principles thus determined, the method proceeds 
higher and higher with caution and circumspection to general 
principles. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 59 

This is an imperfect skeleton of the full-fleshed body of Bacon's 
Indestructive Method, that lives, and breathes the spirit of life, of 
science. 

It requires neither that man should go to nature like a worm to 
eat the dirt, nor like a god to come and say it must be so because I 
think it. Its author intended it to have two elements that he judged 
those of old had not: utility and progress. 

It flows from never drying springs, for it depends on the ingrained 
human love for knowledge, and produces the rewards of life which 
men will probably ever seek. And as a small number of nature's 
powers can be used for countless millions of purposes, there will prob- 
ably never be limit or end to its growth while man lasts. 

To this method Bacon owes his title of Father of Experimental 
Philosophy. Others, indeed, had used the inductive method before 
him, others had experimented before him, but it seems to be agreed 
that he was the best exponent of the inductive method and fitted it 
best for scientific use, especially by the element of verification. 

Modern scientists do not use it exactly in its original shape, but, 
nevertheless, they use a development of that method; and Bacon, 
himself, presumed it contained some errors which would be removed in 
its development. 

Thus the Baconian Scientist is at once the wooer and betrayer of 
Nature. He loves her passionately, watches her afar and anear, 
ardently embraces her, learns the secrets of her heart, and when he 
has her in his power, uses her wealth and knowledge as his own. 

Thus when man will have consummated the work which Bacon 
anticipated he will be doubly strong, in his brain with living thoughts 
fresh from the hand-book of the All-Wise and in his arm, strengthened 
with the power that spins the heavenly bodies as if they were but toys. 

THE UNKNOWN 

It flashes in the noonday sun, and dwells in the darkness that binds 
the midnight. It glares in the scorching heat of the tropics; and 
still it howls with the polar blast. Down deep into the bowels of the 
earth it thrives; and exists in the silvery radiance of the moon. 
Every star twinkles with it; and the flowers bloom under its breath. 

It lives in the raging of the winds and the waves, and is with them 
when they are calm again. It exists in the cold and heat, light and 
darkness. It is still the Unknown. It rolls and surges in clouds of 
flame and darkness, and bursts asunder in thunder and lightning. 
It comes in the stillness of terror; and laughs from the eyeless sockets 
of deadmen. 'Tis the parent and offspring of death; 'tis the life 
and death of creation. 

It dwells in brains of sages, for they know by ways that are unknow- 



60 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

able. Come, get thou astride a sunbeam and we'll fly from the center 
of nothing to the bounds of its being. We've outstripped time; the 
wind reels and shrinks within itself, yet the soul rises up, swells out 
and fills up the universe. 'Tis still the Unknown. 

Light falls upon the eye, and the beauties of nature flash upon the 
mind. But what know the light and the mind of each other, or who 
taught them acquaintance.^ And the Unknown cries out in answer. 
'Tis the wise man's wisdom, and the folly of the fool. Its beginning 
is eternity and its boundaries are the Everlasting. It animates the 
heart of man, and is ever present in his pleasure. 

It is the spirit of virtue, and the cause of deceit. On martyrs' 
tombs it stands; in patriots' graves it lies. It rages in the whirlwind 
and battle; again it descends beneath the wind of Peace. It groans 
in despair; laughs in joy and shouts in triumph. It is ever the Un- 
known. 

It moans in the bitterness of Want, yet it hardens the heart of 
Pride. It teaches us that we are but atoms 'twixt the thumb and 
forefinger of eternity, and still it says: "The end is not yet." 

While the occupation of the historian remains, the ever-prevailing 
influence of the Unknown must be recorded; and when the last his- 
torian shall throw down his pen for the last time, the Unknown will 
be but in the beginning of its existence. Whether it appears in 
Grecian, Roman or Hindustan idols; Israelitish sacrifices, inquisitions, 
witch-burning, alchemy or astrology; whether it appear under form 
of Zeus or Odin, another Paul may ever find an altar still dedicated to 
the Unknown. 

With eagle gaze man penetrates all co-existent being, from the 
immensity of the heavens that arch above him, to the atoms of the 
matter at his feet, judging all things by himself. But, by what will 
he judge himself? When he has brought the spoils of the universe to 
the feet of his mind, he is face to face with another greater mystery 
within, which leads on to mystery, spreads out in mystery, mystery 
without end. Whether superstition or knowledge, it is still the 
Unknown. But why let this dishearten or intimidate? If all things 
besides are strange, mysterious and unknowable, so are we; and things 
of the same kind can know each other. All creation is bound together 
in mutual knowledge and love. And in love, we are told, is contained 
all the laws of God and the prophets. So that the least disturbance 
or interruption in any part will cause a wave that will break on the 
farthest shores of time, and vibrate through all eternity. 

The planets are bound in each other's arms, and sweep through space 
in harmony. The sun beams upon the sky, and the sky smiles to the 
sun; she grows resplendent in gorgeous hues and outdoes herself in 
enthusiastic gladness. The clouds bathe the earth, and the earth 
cherishes the germs of beauty in her bosom, which at length burst 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 61 

forth in trees and buds and flowers, which send up their perfume in 
gladness together. 

And even thunderstorm and angry blast are but the harbingers of 
brighter and purer days. 'Tis only cold and darkness and uncertain 
things that are unkind; and I can but think that even these were 
intended as tests and spices for the created. For without darkness, 
we would not appreciate the light; without cold, warmth would be too 
hot; and when wrong is impossible, the welldoer loses his merit. 

THINK FOR YOURSELF 

When God commanded man to subdue and conquer all things upon 
the earth, how did he intend him to accomplish it? Was it by the 
strength of his muscles? We cannot think that the God of Wisdom 
ever designed man to perform such an utterly impossible task. For 
how does man compare in such strength with the elements or with the 
beasts of the field? With the winds that roar with the hurricane, or 
the lightnings that flash through the heavens, or the waters that dash 
against the cliffs? With the huge elephant, the roaring lion or the 
mighty leviathan? 

Then how can he obey the precept? 

By the assistance of a mightier force, a divine institution, the pow- 
ers of the brain. By this force was man to overcome the elements, 
and to become the master of all other living creatures; this was to 
be the seat of all his power and pleasure. 

And the wonderful results that have sprung from the exercise of 
this power, we see all around us. In the animal creation we see the 
horse, the elephant, the camel and even the tawny lion, obedient to the 
voice of its master; he makes fire drive his steamship from port to 
port, and his iron horse over the iron road: he makes the winds drive 
his vessels over the ocean ; he compels the waters to manufacture his 
goods, and the lightnings to bear his messages through the air. 

Not only does his brain satisfy his absolute wants, but it lifts him 
on the wings of its imagination into the heavens and bears back the 
lesson to his heart and soul. It draws reason from nature and makes 
him a philosopher; it culls sweet fancies and happy thoughts from the 
works of nature and makes him a poet. 

Although no one would think of borrowing another eye or nose or 
ear, mouth or tongue, yet many are perfectly satisfied to use another's 
brains or thoughts and some do not use any brains at all. 

What are books but the stored up knowledge and thoughts of 
others, and those who depend entirely upon them fall when left to 
themselves. "Yes, but," you may say, "God gave those persons 
more natural faculties and greater capabilities." 

You are not sure of this and even if you were, you will acknowledge 



62 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

that he gave you a few brains of your own ; and you cannot tell how 
much he did really give you till you make a trial of them and use them. 

What would the world have done if Homer, Shakespeare, Milton, 
Newton, Kepler and Gallileo, had been satisfied to let someone else 
think for them? They would not have been of any more importance 
to the world now, than the shadows they cast in the sunshine, if they 
had not proved themselves to be, by thinking. 

If in the matter of religion, you allow some one else to think for 
you, it may be Satan in the guise of a friend. If you do not think, 
you cannot do justice to either yourself or your neighbor: You 
cannot do justice to yourself because then you cannot satisfy the 
physical or moral requirements of the body ; nor without using reason, 
judgment and thought, can you distinguish right from wrong. 

This power of thought was Napoleon's superiority over other men, 
not only did he think and act himself, but he made a large part of the 
world act for him. Let not the magnitude of the mental work 
frighten you; things just as great have been achieved by mortals 
before. 

Shakespeare within the little town of Stratford-on-Avon could 
grasp the habits and feelings of all characters, and all times, and use 
them for the foundations of new ones in his own mind. 

Edmund Burke, without stirring his foot from English soil, could 
see the whole country of India with its people, from the throne of 
Hastings to the hut of the meanest peasant; he had so thoroughly 
mastered history as to foretell the future career of nations with almost 
prophetic certainty. 

Be not like Solomon's fool that "walketh through the forest and 
sees no fire-wood," the whole world is replete with wise lessons if you 
only trace their connection in your mind. 

The pleasures of thought and knowledge are not like the sensual 
pleasures of the gay world at large, which flee when the merriment is 
over, and leave you as thoroughly alone as the man in the moon, but 
it is a part of your vitality and yourself. It is an infallible source of 
delight, a never ending fount of joy and pleasure. 

To the thoughtful man the flowers and the trees, the hills and the 
valleys, the sun, the moon and the stars have their own wise lessons to 
teach; and when darkness envelops the scene, then can he roam 
through the forest of his imaginations, and revel in the kingdom of his 
mind. Milton realized this when he said that "Divine Philosophy 
is not harsh and crabbed as dull fools suppose, but tuneful as is 
Apollo's lute." 

Then think for yourself, grasp the thought from the records of 
sages, or from the face of nature; whirl it through your mind; tear 
it to pieces with the forceps of your brain; be familiar with each of 
its parts alone or all together; digest it, assimilate it and make it 
your own. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 63 

TRUE LIBERTY: WHERE SOUGHT? WHERE FOUND? 

We are all interested in liberty. The school-boy, at his desk, sighs 
for liberty; the youth, under paternal correction, pines for liberty; 
the prisoner in his cell, groans for liberty, the slave, under the lash, 
cries aloud for liberty; the poet sings his sweetest songs for liberty; 
the orator swells into his grandest bursts of eloquence for liberty; 
the musician sounds his wildest notes to liberty; the revolutionist 
risks his fortune and his life for liberty. 

Then what is it, for which this inspiration surges in the human 
breast? Can it be that we are ever sighing and wishing for some- 
thing of which we know nothing? 

What is true liberty? Is it freedom from restraint? Is that the 
liberty for which the Pilgrim fathers fled from England and came 
to the Western Continent? Did they seek to be free from all moral 
and physical laws? In other words, that they might become des- 
peradoes? If that was the liberty they shed their blood for in 
the Revolutionary War, what a lie the liberty was that they blazoned 
on their banners, when they immediately made laws to restrain the 
passions of the people ! 

If liberty means freedom from restraint, then the howling, frenzied, 
drunken, crazed savage is the best disciple of liberty that we can find. 
But let us leave this absurd theory; we want no liberty if that is all 
it promises. Where can we find such a sublime definition of liberty 
as is contained in the Scriptures? Christ said to his apostles, "You 
shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." This is, 
indeed, the spirit of freedom, of true liberty! 

Taking this as standard, let us go forth among mankind, and apply 
it to him and his works and ascertain where true liberty is to be 
found. 

As we go back over the past history of the world, over the poetical 
days of chivalry and cavaliers, what a dreary, desolate spectacle is 
presented? What over-powering tides of tyranny and despotism 
we behold ! 

The wretched vassal was a slave in mind and body; the king on 
his throne was a miserable slave to his passions. There might made 
right; and ambition crowded truth, justice and morality, the trinity 
of true liberty, to the earth and made the possession of them a crime. 

Reason and truth struggled with the wild fancies, dreams and 
superstitions of the scientists, and the philosophers were sophisters 
who built their theories upon fallacy and continued them to absurdity. 

Ignorance, the enslaver of the intellect, ruled supreme. Liberty 
was in slavery! But in this vast desert of tyranny and slavery, 
here and there we found oases of liberty. 

That sacred fire burned brightly in the infancy of the Grecian and 



64 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Roman republics. And even after opulence and corruption began 
to usurp the land we find Socrates chasing the sophisters through the 
mazes of their foolishness and dashing to fragments their groundless 
frostwork; and although surrounded with the darkness of Paganism 
he raised his theories and aspirations almost into the light of 
Christianity and liberty. 

We find Demosthenes throwing off the fetters of scheming tyranny 
and thundering forth his Philippics. Brutus cries: "But as he was 
ambitious, I slew him, " so loudly that it rings in our ears to-day. 

Cicero denounces Catiline, and where can we find such examples of 
lofty liberty as the early Christians, suffering untold tortures and 
meeting death without flinching, rather than deny the truth. 

There is a limit to human endurance, there is a time when all the 
powers of man's being springs up and demands his rights as a human 
being, and we find that where the oppression became too great, the 
fire-brand of liberty kindled successively its conflagrations over 
the different nations of Europe. 

Now I come to America, "sweet land of liberty," and ask you 
to tell candidly if she is entirely free from slavery, even if the four 
millions of negroes have been emancipated. Is she free from preju- 
dice that would restrain a man from the exercise of his duty? 

Or is she free from the domineering influence of society that requires 
a person to tell petty, fashionable lies, to run all his thoughts and 
words into one mould? That requires a man in order to be popular 
to make his words to suit the people instead of suiting them to his 
own conscience as the God of nature intended? Has the Rum king 
no influence over his people? Or are there no sophisters among her 
financiers, or philosophers? 

I ask you if the "mighty dollar" ever curbs the opinions or liberty 
of her inhabitants? Has it no power over her ballot boxes? Does 
it ever make highway robbers or lobby sneak thieves of her people? 

A consultation of facts will readily answer these questions. Now 
let me cautiously take a peep into the sphere of morals and religion 
and ascertain if all is liberty here. Laying aside the countless millions 
of human creatures that are sunk in hopeless fanaticism and hea- 
thenism, what do I behold as I turn to Christianity, but what I think 
ought to be an everlasting disgrace to its authors! I find fifty -five 
denominations of the Christian religion with antagonistic doctrines. 
Are there fifty-five gods, and a prospect for some more? Or if there 
is but one true God, and consequently but one true doctrine, can the 
truth be divided? Can I not say that the whole is equal to the sum 
of most of its parts, or that Massachusetts lies partly in Connecticut, 
and have these versions equally good with the truth? I argue this 
not as a religionist but as a dealer with plain facts, and I ask, "Is 
this the liberty the German reformer sought when he broke the bonds 
of that oft quoted superstition?" 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 65 

Finally, I think that we, as scholars of the nineteenth century, 
ought to remember that true liberty lies in the knowledge of the 
truth, in the possession of the truth, in discerning the truths from all 
base counterfeits and in clinging to the truth though all the powers 
of corruption, ignorance and prejudice conspire against you to enslave 
you. 

Learned fools and walking encyclopedias have not true liberty 
though their brains be stuffed with a jumble of truth and falsehood. 
A great truth may be put in the mouth of a parrot or on the disc of a 
phonograph, but they know not where they receive it. 

WAR 

I can compare war to nothing but a raging fire, which burns up 
liberty, morality, principle and in short, whatever of good there is in 
the world. 

A fire, first kindled by Eve when she plucked envy, hatred, jealousy 
and ignorance from the Forbidden Tree; readily incited by anger 
produced on the sharp edges of character, and leaves nothing but its 
ashes, wretchedness, misery and vice in its awful track. 

Within the memory of most of us, our own country was deluged 
in civil war. And when will she recover from its awful effects.' 
When will the enormous debt contracted during the war be paid? 
When will the confidence of the people be restored? When will her 
morals be mended? Or the loss of her million noble sons, slain in 
battle, requited? 

Before the war crime was almost unknown; happiness, business 
and education thrived; nearly every man earned an honest living, 
and enjoyed domestic peace. 

Now how is the scene changed? Men, in high positions of trust, 
become implicated as common thieves; bank robberies are every 
day occurrences, and murders are common. 

From the time of the creation we find no nation capable of sustain- 
ing itself by force or violence, and every attempt at it has resulted 
in corruption and degradation. 

We behold Babylonia, Assyria, Media, Persia, Lydia, Ethiopia, 
Greece and Rome rising one after the other from the reeking blood 
of the slain, and successively tumbling to pieces. 

They "lived by the sword, and they died by the sword. " 

In thinking of those ancient nations, an indistinct mass of moss- 
grown ruins and broken temples rise in our minds; but the human 
feelings and human sympathies of man must have been the same as 
to-day, and the horrors of war none the less. 

It is strange that although war has ever been the most deadly foe 
to civilization, civilization has always advanced the means of war. 

6 



66 JAMES IVIAHONEY MEMORIAL 

The savage murders with the arrow, the spear and the tomahawk ; 
the civilized warrior with the cannon, the rifle and the sword. The 
savage has his King Philip, Tecumseh and Powhatan; the civilized 
soldier has his Caesar, Napoleon and Wellington; the barbarian kills 
scores, while the civilized man slays thousands. 

It is well for the philosopher to compare the number thus fallen, 
to the whole human race; but will this comparison satisfy the blood 
that calls to Heaven for vengeance? The peaceful cities, villages and 
towns laid waste? The orphans cries, or the "wild mother's scream 
o'er her famishing brood?" Or how repay the poor traveller in 
this valley of tears, whose existence of a day was his all? 

So it is well for the astronomer to compare the nothingness of this 
world to the boundless expanse of the (remainder lost) . 

OUGHT THERE BE TWO GREAT POLITICAL PARTIES 

IN AMERICA? 

In a new country like America, founded for the rights and freedom 
of its people, there must necessarily be much discussion and contro- 
versy in the attainment of those principles which are needful for 
the peoples' welfare. 

Truth and wisdom cannot be obtained in a moment; and many 
forms of plausible untruth must be advanced, before the reality can 
be obtained. 

And on the other side it might be strongly maintained that party 
is necessary for the true representation of the different views of a great 
question, and for the fostering of activity in those abstract spheres. 

But it must be remembered that those great political parties, do 
not pretend to search for the truth, nor act as if they were working 
for the good of all. They act as if the truth, and the right and the 
end had already arrived; they raise aloft their principles at the 
beginning, compressing all of their members within the limits of 
their criterion, like Procrustes, stretching the short men, and chop- 
ping off the tall ones; and that standing they will maintain to the end, 
at all costs, and at all hazards, though they wade for it through fraud 
and corruption, taking every possible means, fair and unfair, against 
their adversaries. 

Then, in the first place, the origin of the party must be in disagree- 
ment, which is readily sharpened into hatred; discord and strife 
is incited, and the structure of the whole country is loosened and 
disjointed by its baneful effects. 

The government of those parties is centered in a few individuals, 
who, vulture-like, profit by the struggle of the lions. Instead of 
being a benefit to the country in enabling the people to ascertain 
the truth, in regard to politicians and their principles, party renders 
it nearly impossible for a person to judge which is in the right. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 67 

The principles of the majority of newspapers are outweighed by 
the feeUngs of party, and they "shout with the crowd"; the speeches 
of stump-orators consist in the denunciation of their opponents; 
every true partisan feels himself bound to denounce the opposite 
party, as often with falsehood as with trivial truth magnified, while 
he extols his own party to the skies. Votes are bought and sold; 
there is fraud at the polls necessitating Potter committees; the very 
quintessence of Republican liberty, the free votes of the people, are 
gravely infringed upon. 

After such fraud and tyranny at the mere election, what can we 
expect when one party predominates.'' The fraud and deception 
of persons, in high positions, for a few years past, will fully answer the 
question. 

Thus it goes on, each succeeding year only intensifying the dis- 
gusting and horrible scenes of the preceding. When a party is estab- 
lished, its leading principle is, of course, wholly for its own good; 
its birth was caused by animosity to all others, and that animosity 
is only augmented, and rendered more virulent by time. When 
that party gains the ascendency how can its selfish principles be a 
benefit to the whole nation? 

Many an experiment has proved that they cannot. 

During its season of power, each party rules despotically; and, as 
that power is controlled by a few persons, it gives the government 
of the country a deep cast of monarchy. 

So much for the principle of party. 

Now how does it affect the strength and safety of the country.'' 
Which is strength, union or discord? 

A father gave his son a bundle of sticks, bound together, telling 
him to break them, but the youth could not bend them. The father 
then (remainder lost). 



AD QUEM FINEM? 

Graduation essay. North Brookfield, Mass., June, 1880 

As from century to century, generation after generation moves, 
toils, struggles, presses onward with ever increasing speed whilst 
the light of day illumines their path, and dark night affords shelter 
for hidden schemes, it may well be asked: Why this ceaseless motion? 
What seek heroes and beggars, warlike kingdoms and commercial 
republics? Why surge those dark masses through the channels of 
time? Ad quem finem? 

Ask them one by one, as they come into the light of the present, 
and each and every one will answer that he works, he strives, he 
strains, for the gratification of some wish, some longing; to meet 



68 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

the demands of body and soul; for the accomphshment of some 
happiness. 

For every act that man performs, whether good or bad, interested 
or disinterested, so-called, must come from the desire to gratify some 
quality of himself that urges him to the act. Whether the mariner's 
love of novelty and adventure, the glutton's love of his stomach, 
the miser's greed for gold, the politician's love of honor, the states- 
man's fidelity to principle, the good man's benevolence or the mis- 
sionary's thirst for souls; all come from the same prime cause, from 
hidden springs within. "0 bonheur! fin de noire etre, pour toi nous 
vivons, pour toi nous osons mourir. " 

Then if this is the goal of human wishes, and the object of desires, 
why is it not always attained? Whence come those tears, those 
cries of agony and woe, from the eyes of the present and the heart 
of the past, that shock the ears of listening humanity? Surely they 
come not from the fullness of content, not from the conjunction of 
wishes and their objects, their end. What is this end, and why so 
seldom obtained? 

As man wakes up to the consciousness of life and being, with space 
above and beneath him, time around him and eternity before him, 
whither will he turn, what course pursue, what guidance follow? 
To be able to answer those questions, he must be a sensible being, 
able to distinguish between greatness and smallness, relatively at 
least, if not absolutely, of something and nothing, of the gratification 
of the highest qualities of his being and the lowest, or yet of that which 
has no existence, save in fancy. 

In order to do this it is evident that he must have the assistance, 
the harmonious action and co-operation of all the faculties of his 
soul. As Wordsworth says: "There lies no faculty within us that 
the soul can spare." And so Plato taught: "Education consists 
in the training of all the faculties of the being. " 

For everyone that observes the actions of the world must notice, 
or at least experience, the operation of two great forces upon it, ever 
acting upon men, by appealing to their wants, desires and emotions. 

One which promises immediate pleasure, but confusing, seductive, 
gaudy, loud-boasting and destroying. The other slow, but calm, 
clear, enduring; seldom transporting, but never failing; the one like 
small vessels of filthy desires, quickly filled in disgust; the other like 
the abyss of time which is never full. 

Those are the two courses that spread out before man; those are 
the voices that appeal to him. And how can he determine which 
to heed? For to follow a lofty principle, to steadfastly pursue noble 
ends, through a world of fears and duties beset by fawning pleasures, 
to defer present needs, hopes and wishes, to overleap the present 
and to continue to listen to the calm steady voice of the future 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 69 

amidst the roaring voices of confusion, requires not only a cul- 
tivated judgment, but a strong moral force, a stern character in the 
execution. 

But thus it must be if the end of man's existence is worth obtaining; 
for no permanent good, or worthy object has ever been obtained 
without sacrifice and toil. Low, base and unworthy desires must be 
sacrificed on the altar of a holier devotion. But days and years and 
ages have flown away, and misery has not yet departed from the 
earth. 

How can mortals be freed from suffering.'' If misery be not a 
pleasure to man, how may happiness be obtained for him? It is 
obvious that it must be the result of union and of law; not of separa- 
tion, disintegration and dissolution. 

If there is a condition productive of happiness, there must be a 
force to preserve that condition. It cannot be supposed that all 
men can be equally strong, vigilant and active in the execution of 
what they know to be right. A slowness to action, a clouded un- 
derstanding, a timid will and a failing resolution, it is the lot of com- 
mon mortals to possess. 

Therefore the apostle says, "Let every soul be subject to higher 
powers, for there is no power but from God. " It is authority alone 
that can to any degree obtain this condition. It is the subordination 
of the inferior to the superior; the spur of duty and the represser of 
rashness. It is the forcing of electricity into the telegraph; the 
power of steam into the engine; the difference between a mob and 
an army; the separation of utility from chaos. 

And hence, our government, for the preservation of order in the 
physical world; our schools, for the training of the faculties of the 
nation's mind; and our churches, for teaching the highest faculties 
of man's being to reverence the Center of order and love. But, 
that an intellectual result be obtained or godliness be taught, it is 
necessary that man have the seeds of an intellectual and holy ideal. 
The acorn must be cognizant of the oak. Whence 'tis evident that 
the desire of man's being is for life, for the construction of its powers 
and development toward the fullness of its aspirations. Even 
thought from its very nature, from its first awakening, is but the 
crystallization of construction, of formation and of law. It is the 
building-up of unity, the arrangement of order in apparent chaos. 
And it is not less so in the moral order. It is thus with the sense of 
duty, of loyalty, of patriotism, and, above all, of piety. Difiiculties 
may press upon one, adversity may stun, friends may desert and 
calamities afflict, but if they are withstood there must be some gleam 
of light from within, some inward consciousness of better beyond, 
of some good to come, some secret persuasion of promises for future 
fulfillment. And this active principle, this inward light, this fresh- 



70 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

ness of the heart and buoyancy of the soul, this living something that 
pours sunshine through the darkened portals of the intellect, phi- 
losophers call hope, and Christians, faith. And if this fails a man, 
the unknown spring of life that has thus far urged him onward in 
his career, the power that has impelled him forward, will turn back 
upon itself, jump the boundaries of fear, and leap into the gulf of 
desperation. The last grasp has escaped him hanging over a preci- 
pice, the last ray of light has faded from the drowning man, his 
sun has set forever, the dark waves swallow him up; then follows 
despair, death, destruction, suicidal grave. 

Infidelity, in its principles and in its practice, is a remover of faith, 
a destroyer of hope, an abettor of destruction. 

This is the picture of wrong: a hideous fiend that delights in 
gloom and darkness, which clothes itself in the pleasing forms of 
human frailties so as not to terrify its victims by its naked horror, 
which enters into a human soul through the portals of negligence 
or of passion, when the faculties are so little or so much aroused as 
not to perceive it; which can continue its habitation only by seducing 
and blinding the soul's best faculties, by setting nature at war with 
nature, whose infuriated victim dares not listen to his thoughts, 
to his accusing conscience, and his outraged sense of right, who strives 
to fill the aching void with intoxication, debauchery and crime; a 
monster that leads to diabolical destruction, in murderous brawls, 
in hellish dens of sin and shame; in myriads of desolated homes; 
in rivers of blood from famine, war and intemperance. For what 
is taken from the highest laws of nature, the soul shall mourn for 
in blood-red tears of woe. But is it in wrong that a person would 
seek the end of his being and the fulness of his soul, when its very 
existence depends upon their separation and perversion, and in mock- 
ing their highest wants and desires? No, wrong is not to be flattered 
nor pampered nor smiled upon; but is to be hated with an undying 
hate, whilst, like a maelstrom, it is sucking the goodness, holiness 
and happiness of the land into the horrid depths of crime and agony. 
And how could men, even if they had no other light to guide them 
than their own intellect, as they swing suspended by the slender 
thread of life in the abyss of eternity, how can they suffer themselves 
to fall howling into its dark and trackless depths, with the brand of 
sin, destruction and confusion burned into their very souls? Woe 
unto that individual whom crime has overpowered, for his life is a 
failure; woe unto that nation, that collection of individuals, that 
tolerate it, for it has within it the fermenting germs of strife, disorder 
and revolution which will eventually rend it to atoms. Existence, 
even, depends upon law and order founded upon love and increases 
according to their harmonious conjunction. No matter how wicked- 
ness may seem to prosper and fraud be triumphant, virtue and good- 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 71 

ness are as enduring as human life, at least. For there must still 
exist some spark of right, of law and life, in the lowest degradation 
to perceive the horror of wrong, for dull stagnant death perceives not 
the horror of itself in its empty void. It is a capability for a happiness 
that renders misery possible. And, the huge clouds of the electrified 
wraths of perverted justice, thundering across the ages have lighted 
up the awful splendor of right in weird grandeur, have shaken the 
world in fury; and we are enjoying the comparative calm that suc- 
ceeds the storms of a thousand years; and well be it, if profit be taken 
from the lessons they teach. Thus, even in our weak nature that a 
universal tradition pronounces " degraded, "every human being has at 
least the outline of a noble ideal, the stamp of a divine seal impressed 
upon him. Even the most degraded human creature weighed down 
with the accumulated wickedness of ancestry, and with the dust 
and cinders that life has heaped upon him, yet, deep beneath them, 
glow the smoldering coals of a better nature. Those tender and holy 
emotions that cannot bear the rude contact with sin, seek refuge in 
the deepest recesses of the heart whence death alone can drive them; 
and out of the most arid spirit a dram of misery may be squeezed. 
From out the heart of the frozen zone, midst howling winds, the 
fierce savage reverences his rude ideal; from the wilderness, the fight 
and death-dance, the wild Indian calls upon the Great Spirit; in 
the scorching heat of the fierce tropics the Negro in prostrating 
himself before the idols demonstrates his higher aspirations; and 
in our own temperate zone, where the spirit is less obscured with 
the thick and clotted matter of corrupted sense, the soul shines 
forth in a purer light and worships its maker with a holier devotion. 
Thus, the faculties of man are developed with the scale of humanity, 
they ascend, enlarge, brighten and radiate into forms of beauty, 
music, harmony, poetry, and eloquence. Heroic and noble deeds 
animate for all time; noble thoughts dart full-armed from mind to 
mind. A Demosthenes at Greece, a Cicero at Rome, a Patrick 
Henry in America thrill noble faculties of man, by exhibiting Right 
in all its irresistible strength and glorious luster; higher proofs of 
man's nobility in the establishment of Christianity in a licentious, 
pagan world; and then, finally, the grand culmination in the 
martyrs who limit happiness to neither space nor time and in the 
pangs of torment were comforted with the quintescence of sublimity. 
So it is, as Daniel Webster termed it, action, noble, sublime, god-like 
action, and the combination of his forces that will obtain for man 
his end. It is not when dullness, sluggishness, semi-death subdue 
his best impulses ; but it is when every faculty of his being is wrought 
up to its highest perfection, sparkling, glowing in primeval innocence 
and grandeur, when the heart illumines the intellect and the intellect 
guides the heart; when the qualities of the mind, the being, the 



72 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

soul, look into, shine upon and unite with one another; it is then, 
in the exercise of those god-like faculties, the longings of the soul 
extending from the cradle are but augmented at the beginning of the 
grave; and in that intellect that embraces in its grasp the earth and 
skies, even casting a ruddy gleam into eternity by comprehending 
the incomprehensibility of its immensity; it is in the exercise of those 
that man catches a glimpse of that happy state from which he has 
fallen and of the adfinem to which he is ascending; and the nearer he 
approaches that end the brighter it appears. When on the eve of 
life he recalls the memory of good deeds in years gone by, as the 
mists of Death gather more thickly over his horizon, as he sees cher- 
ished objects, friends and foes alike vanish, as he gazes upon the 
blue sky stretching out into the immensity of forever and ever, 
what now will satisfy the yearnings of his soul? Is it science or 
knowledge or philosophy? No, no! Those stand back aghast before 
the stern reality of the tomb. Faith, faith, alone, remains to him, 
faith in the Immutable, whose pleasures vibrate through all eternity, 
enthroned in the heavenly azure above the "crash of matter and 
the wreck of worlds. " 




JAMES MAHONEY 
When He Graduated from Amherst, 1884 



CHAPTER IV 

" Oh, the bells of old Amherst! Long may they be telling 
Of Amherst, fair Amherst, and old Eighty-four. " 

" No friends are like the old, old friends, — 
The men of Eighty-four. " 

" 'Tis sweet, as year by year we lose 
Friends out of sight, in faith to muse 
How grows in Paradise our store." 

Never does a man portray his own character more vividly than in 
his manner of portraying another. 

— Titan. 

The only theory that will adequately explain our twenty-eight years 
of steady convocation is the theory of Friendship founded on Mutual 
Fellowship. Here we meet as friends and brothers, finding solace in 
each others eyes, strength in each others hands, courage in a union of 
hearts. Bound together by a higher bond than that of appetite or stale 
custom. Drawn more closely by our losses than by our gains. The loud 
bespeaks the open heart, the serious word speaks the thoughtful mind, 
owing allegiance to our college and loyalty to our ideals of life. 

— James Mahoney. 

A paean high for '84! 
A paean strong and high! 

Our class shall live forevermore! 
Our class shall never die! 

— James Mahoney. 

Days at Amherst 

James Mahoney entered Amherst in September, 1880, as a fresh- 
man in the Class of '84. 

The transition from preparatory school to college is for all a notable 
one. For one coming from a large school like Phillips Academy, 
Andover, where there is an ample corps of instructors and a large 
body of students coming from many sections of the country, the most 
noticeable change is in the larger degree of freedom given. For 
those coming from a small country high school entrance into college 



74 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

life is a never to be forgotten epoch, as when the butterfly leaves its 
chrysalis home and on spreading wings revels in the sunlight. 

In the North Brookfield high school from which Mahoney came 
there was the usual small corps of teachers and a body of students 
coming from the immediate vicinity. At Amherst there was, for 
those days, a large and scholarly faculty and a student constituency 
drawn from most sections of this country and from some foreign 
countries. 

The most obvious criticisms to be made on the faculty were these : 
Without exception they were graduates of one college, Amherst, 
and there resulted an inevitable narrowness of view; and in the 
second place the president and all but two or three of the faculty 
were adherents of one church, the Congregationalist, and Truth was 
viewed pretty much from one angle. But they were scholarly, self- 
sacrificing, and sympathetic, and a student could hardly have found 
their peers, intellectually and morally, in any other college in the 
land. 

That period, '80-'84, is not so very remote, — measured in years 
it is a part of modern history. But as regards scientific and phi- 
losophic thought it seems a part of medieval times. The theory of 
evolution, now as generally accepted as the theory of gravitation, 
was fighting for recognition, and like the theory of gravitation in 
Newton's time was regarded by many as irreligious. President 
Seelye was distinctly unfriendly to it, but Professor John M, Tyler, 
then one of the youngest of the faculty, gave a course of lectures 
setting forth the evidence for the theory, and Henry Ward Beecher, 
with characteristic boldness, in a series of sermons on "Evolution 
and Religion" was interpreting the great truths of Christianity in 
the light of evolution. 

If in the Class of '84, of which Mahoney found himself a member, 
there were imperfections, and the faculty seemed to think that there 
were, narrowness and uniformity of view were not conspicuous. 
There were Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, 
Presbyterians, and one of the the manliest of them all, Frank Cooper, 
called himself an Agnostic. There were those who held that studies 
should not be allowed to interfere seriously with one's college course, 
and who never failed to take their "tenth," the full number of 
allowed absences. For these men any cerebral activity that secured 
a "3" in any course when "2" was the passing mark was misspent 
energy, a thing for which they should offer apology to their comrades. 

There were others who believed that the prime object of coming 
to college was to study, to meditate, to gain mastery over difficult 
subjects, to have spiritual fellowship with Socrates, St. Paul, Galileo, 
Shakespeare, Kant, Abraham Lincoln, to gain thereby inspiration as 
well as information, and so grow in moral and intellectual stature; 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 75 

to gain ideals that should be guiding stars in the grand enterprise 
of giving a life to the world. 

To this latter class James Mahoney belonged. To him time was 
precious coin that should not be spent in vain. When he entered 
Amherst he had had in all seven years of schooling while the rest of 
us had had eleven or more. Small wonder is it that at the end of 
freshman year he was awarded one of the two Topping prizes. These 
prizes, each of twenty-five dollars in gold, were for the two members 
of the freshman class who showed the greatest improvement in the 
work of the year. 

In those days the freshmen were ordinarily taught by young in- 
structors while the professors taught the upper classes. It happened 
that we of '84 in freshman year had three instructors who were new 
recruits on the Amherst faculty, Stanton Coit, William L. Cowles 
and Charles E. Garman. The last named was a prince among 
teachers, clear, patient, and sympathetic, and '84 was blessed above 
all classes in having that man as instructor in mathematics in fresh- 
man year and as instructor in philosophy when we were seniors. 
Mr. Cowles, a rare combination of gentleness and power, is now the 
honored head of the Latin department at Amherst. Mr. Coit has 
rendered eminent service in the ethical culture movement and has 
been a ministering angel to the poor of New York City and London. 
In Greek two sections of the class were taught by Levi H. Elwell, a 
man of adamant Puritan character and profound scholarship, and 
the "rank division" men were under Professor Mather, a master of 
expression and a lover of the beautiful in literature and art. Mahoney 
needless to say, was in Professor Mather's division and was the pet 
pupil. I can recall to-day the elegance of his translations, especially 
in rendering the sublime thoughts of "Medea" and of "Prometheus 
Bound." 

He received the first prize in Greek in freshman year, and was 
later awarded the Hutchins Greek prize in junior year. 

During freshman year Mahoney roomed in East College. That 
building, a plain factory-like structure, used to stand at the east end 
of the splendid double row of maples which extends from the Chapel 
toward the College Church. Altho the building itself was unat- 
tractive the view which it commanded was glorious. No wonder 
Henry Ward Beecher remarked in his speech at our '84 Commence- 
ment dinner, "If the Garden of Eden had not been located where it 
was it would have been located at Amherst. In that case Adam 
never would have sinned and we would have been saved a heap of 
theology." The azure hills of Pelham lay three miles to the east; 
Leverett and Shutesbury could be seen to the north, and Belchertown 
with its commanding sentinel position formed the southeastern 
horizon, Norwottuch and the other mountains of the Holyoke range 



76 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

were outlined against the southern sky. Especially in the fall when 
the maples on the mountains were clad in their myriad colors the 
outlook from East College was enough to compensate for the primi- 
tiveness of the structure. 

Mahoney's roommate was Baldridge, a quiet fair-haired youth, 
keen in intellect and as delicately built as a fawn. Among those 
occupying rooms under the same roof were Loftus, later to be our 
Hyde prize orator and a power in the mining world ; Hatheway , the 
lawyer-to-be and magnate in business; Hayes, the future railroad 
executive; Rockwood, now head of the department of chemistry 
in Iowa State University; Milan, now Dr. Milan of Providence, and 
Dr. Learoyd of Taunton. Old East College, plebeian and plain 
tho it was, sheltered that year more of the brain and heart of '84 
than any other building in Amherst. 

Owing to the sad and untimely death of Baldridge, sophomore 
year found him in South College rooming with Joe Heavens, a man 
of abounding good-nature and always ready for fun. Now he is a 
shining light in the educational world. Mahoney's roommate in 
junior year was Sherman, '85, whom he had known in the North 
Brookfield high school. Senior year he roomed alone in the home of 
Mr. Bartlett. 

In the Amherst days Mahoney, tho by no means lacking in social 
qualities, was intimately acquainted with but few of his classmates, 
— our lives touched his chiefly in the classroom. The reasons for this 
were not difficult to find. In the first place it was his inflexible 
rule to place duty before pleasure, and after his work was thoroly 
done there was scant time for social intercourse. From participation 
in athletic sports he was barred by lameness. Those days were days 
of intense class rivalry and physical conflict, and the Classes of '83 
and '85, considerably outnumbering our own, developed our militant 
qualities, and physical prowess was at a premium. Then when battles 
were over the exuberant spirit of '84 found vent in fun and student 
pranks. Mahoney was by nature meditative and the big questions 
of religion and philosophy interested him more than the question 
what punishment should be meted out to '83 for shaving off Frank 
Williams' whiskers. Many of us, who later found in him a spirit 
kindred to our own, would have made that discovery earlier and 
gravitated toward him had not the stress of poverty prevented. 
When a lad — I am thinking of myself now — earns money for college 
expenses by sawing cord wood for fifty cents per cut, and by husking 
corn for four cents a bushel, there is scant time for the cultivation 
of friendships. And the production of an intimate friendship, like 
the production of any fine fruit or flower, requires time for cultiva- 
tion. In later years we saw that he regarded friendship as a thing of 
highest spiritual value and his friendship was generously given to 
young and old. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 77 

As a student Mahoney was serious, almost solemn, in manner, 
and his classmates little suspected the wealth of wit and kindly- 
humor that later years revealed. I fancy that most of us were 
totally ignorant of this side of his nature until our never-to-be-for- 
gotten class reunion at Amherst in 1909. On the last evening of 
the reunion we had our concluding "family gathering" at our head- 
quarters, the Perry. After an exhibition of lantern slides which 
took us back to student days Mahoney started the ball rolling by 
making a speech that filled us with astonishment and delight. Such 
flashing wit, such delicate humor, such playful allusions to our pecu- 
liarities! Then Dakin as master of ceremonies scintillated better 
than his best. Alvord and Goodwin and others of our star speakers 
outdid themselves, and it was two hours after midnight when the 
display of oratorical fireworks ceased. It was remarked by many 
that such a sustained series of brilliant speeches they had never 
before listened to, and it was Jim Mahoney who had set the pace. 

His excellence in Greek has already been alluded to, and with Tyler, 
Mather, and Elwell as teachers he was able to drink long and deep 
at the fountains of Hellenic culture. Latin he did not need to 
translate, he read it with consummate ease. It is said that he was 
familiar with the writings of Origen and Aquinas and would freely 
quote from them. The Novum Organum of Bacon he read in the 
original. He was familiar with the writings of Cardinal Wiseman and 
his keen mind was thrilled by the exquisite beauty and irresistible 
force of Newman whose "Apologia pro Vit Sus" he justly regarded 
as a masterpiece. 

His felicity in English verse is illustrated by the following lines, 
written in freshman year, and rescued from oblivion by his friend 
Loftus, then an editor of the "Student." 

AD AMARYLLEM 

(After Virgil) 
Approach, with empty basket in your hand, 
O gatherer of the vintage, nut brown maid. 
And pluck the purple grape with me to-day; 
Inviting, yet untouched, the vineyards stand. 
The grapes are drooping, cooling in the shade. 
The vine leaves rustle, rustle, as they sway. 

Approach, O maiden, with a modest smile. 
And gently press the drooping leaf aside, 
To pluck the cluster hidden underneath; 
And muse on love, if love be sweet, the while; 
Then will I twine the vine leaves at your side. 
And deck your flowing tresses with a wreath. 

Approach, O artless maiden, sun-embrowned, 
And pluck with me the clusters on the vine. 



78 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

And let the vine-clad hills with laughter ring. 
Till hill and wood shall echo back the sound. 
We'll sing anew the praises of the wine, 
Forgetful of the vintage while we sing. 

At the twenty-fifth '84 reunion at Amherst in 1909 he read the 
class poem, a production notable for depth of thought and feehng. 

In those days analytic geometry was a required subject, and no 
'84 man will ever forget the joy manifested when we celebrated by a 
midnight parade, bonfire, and subsequent "Battle of the Hose" 
with '85 the completion of the required mathematical course. Along 
with Tufts, Gill, and a few others mathematically gifted, Mahoney 
pursued the study of the higher mathematics under Professor William 
C. Esty, as fine and beautiful a soul as ever graced the Amherst 
faculty. Later he studied physics and astronomy and was awarded 
the Porter prize for excellence in those subjects. 

Mahoney's work was everywhere of the highest grade. To him 
thoro work was a part of religion. To him, as to the monks of old, 
*' labors est orare." Looseness in thinking was irreligious — like 
looseness in morals. Subjects large and difficult and profound 
interested him as big game interests the hunter. So it happened 
that the most potent stimulus to his intellectual life came in senior 
year in the course in philosophy and ethics conducted by President 
Seelye and Professor Garman. 

One of the many ways in which President Seelye manifested his 
esteem for Mahoney was by entrusting to him the instruction of a 
daughter in her college preparation in Greek. On one occasion when 
Mahoney was enjoying a visit from a sister she met President Seelye, 
and after the usual formalities he said to her: "I congratulate you 
on having such a brother; he has but one imperfection and that is a 
physical one. " 

Both of these teachers indicated their opinion of Mahoney's 
attainments by awarding him the Phi Beta Kappa prize for excellence 
in the philosophical studies of senior year. Seelye, a man of dom- 
inant personality, had been a famous teacher of philosophy for a 
generation, and to him Mahoney was devoted. In the latter part 
of the President's life, in those days when in response to inquiries 
about his health he would say, "I am quite well, but I live in a 
wretched tenement," Mahoney called on him at Amherst. Since 
they had not met for a long time the visitor said: "I don't suppose 
that you remember me. President Seelye." The President replied: 
"I remember you with affection and esteem." Altho extremely 
feeble he went to the door as his guest was leaving. 

Garman was just entering his brilliant career, and by his genius 
as thinker and teacher, and by his never failing sympathy, earned 
immortality in the affections of every man of '84. To him Mahoney 
makes reference in his class-poem at our twenty-fifth reunion : 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 79 

"And Look! 
In Walker Hall through the windows streamed 
The sunshine o'er eager faces, all with earnest 
Eyes as falls the sunshine on the master 
At his desk, of swarthy hue, and dark and 
Gleaming eye, his voice and mind 
And sentence, all, as crystal clear. 
As with charmed words he spoke of 
Mind and soul; of matter and of God." 

With clearness in thinking Garman possessed a wonderful gift 
of exposition. We studied Hickok's Empirical Psychology and 
Hickok's Moral Science, and Hickok was justly celebrated as "the 
deepest down diving, the longest down staying, and the most mud 
upbringing" philosopher of his day. From Hickok alone we could 
have derived little profit — whatever clear ideas we had would probably 
have been dulled in outline; but with Garman as teacher paying 
scant attention to Hickok we acquired ideas and ideals that gleamed 
clear in the sunlight of Truth, we built a faith that stood unshaken 
in later years. His illustrations illustrated, they were not mere 
ornaments. For instance, he would say that the universe, material 
as truly as moral, depends on God for its continued existence from 
moment to moment as truly as the rainbow on the continued shining 
of the sun. And then he would go on to show that there was sound 
philosophy in St. Paul's words, "For in Him we live and move and 
have our being." 

It was in his work under Garman that Mahoney's keen mind had 
its greatest delight and stimulus and expansion, and something of 
the affection which he felt for his teacher is expressed in his lines, 

We'll love thee till our life depart, 

O Garman of our heart! 
We'll love thee while our hearts are kind, 

O Garman of our mind! 
We'll love thee while the seasons roll, 

O Garman of our soul! 

Evidence of his philosophic attainments is seen in his winning 
the Phi Beta Kappa prize already mentioned, and in his oration, 
"Personality and Its Evolution in Character," delivered on the 
Commencement stage. 

When Commencement Day arrived, July 2, 1884, James Mahoney 
could look back upon a college course replete with honors, but his 
habit was to concern himself with present duty and not complacently 
to survey the past. There remained yet one height to be attained, 
one honor to be won. The custom of those days was to select as 
speakers upon the Commencement stage those eight men who 
ranked at the head of the graduating class. Of course Mahoney was 
one. The Bond Commencement prize of $100 was awarded annually 



80 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

to that member of the graduating class who delivered the best oration 
on the Commencement stage, both composition and delivery being 
considered in making the award. Of course a man of Mahoney's 
brain and heart could write an excellent oration, but could one so 
unaccustomed to public speaking hope to win the coveted honor? 
The occasion is always an inspiring one. The hall is filled with 
friends of the graduating class. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, 
sweethearts are there, and every speaker is spurred to his best. This 
'84 Commencement was notable on account of the presence of 
Amherst's greatest son, Henry Ward Beecher. The governor and 
the lieutenant-governor of the Commonwealth were to be present 
at the graduating exercises and Mahoney was painfully aware of 
the fact. He had passed a sleepless night and his every nerve was 
tense as he took his place on the Commencement platform. Among 
the other speakers were men who have since risen to eminence, and 
two of them have been honored by their Alma Mater with the degree 
of Doctor of Laws. His oration, "Personality and Its Evolution in 
Character," the fruit of his careful study under Seelye and Garman, 
was listened to with closest attention, and after the awarding of 
degrees it was announced that the Bond prize, the crowning honor 
of the college course, had been awarded to James Mahoney. 

The number of prizes he had taken in his college course was 
phenomenal and unprecedented, and equally notable is the fact 
that these honors were won in such widely different fields. 

It was inevitable that such a man should be sought for as a teacher 
in prominent institutions of learning, but in many cases his staunch 
Catholic faith stood in the way. When asked whether he would 
be willing to change his faith in order to become eligible to these 
positions his answer was always an instantaneous and indignant 
"No." Had they known their man they never would have asked 
the question. A sand dune changes its position under the influence 
of the wind, but Mahoney was no sand dune. Like the granite hills 
of his New England home his faith, inherited from godly ancestors 
and made his own by earnest and profound meditation, was built upon 
rock foundations that no tempest could shake. How could he who 
could not be false to others be false to himself? He had early heard 
the divine question, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul? " 

Not only to members of the Amherst faculty did he feel gratitude 
and loyalty but to Amherst herself, the spirit of the Alma Mater 
which had nourished him. One of the fruits of this loyalty is seen 
in his pioneer work in planning for what is now known as the Amherst 
Alumni Council. His clear eye saw that the ideas, loyalty, enthu- 
siasm, and wealth were of enormous potential value to Amherst, 
but there was need of some body organized for their utilization. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 81 

To his classmates and friends he persistently pressed this idea, and 
to him in no small measure is due the agitation which crystallized in 
establishing the Amherst Alumni Council. 

Professor Cowles, now the only one of Mahoney's teachers still a 
member of the Amherst faculty, writes: "I recall him distinctly 
as a member of my Latin class, and as one who was an excellent 
student and absolutely reliable,— such a student as every teacher 
likes to have in his class. I recall also with especial pleasure the 
many talks we had on various themes outside the classroom, often 
under the trees in front of South College, for we both had rooms on 
College Hill. He impressed me always as a young man with high 
ideals, marked earnestness of purpose, and one who would not desire 
to tolerate frivolity or hypocrisy in himself or in others. He had an 
eager desire to know the truth and was always ready to defend it in 
accordance with the light he had. 

"He was a man well endowed with intellectual qualities and noble 
character, incapable of thinking or doing an unworthy deed. " 

Such, in barest outline, was the college record of the gifted lad who 
dwelt and pondered and saw visions in Amherst from '80 to '84. 
In such as he Amherst glories, and of such she says in the words of 
Cornelia concerning her sons, the Gracci, "These are my jewels. " 

Joseph O. Thompson. 

Extracts from Mahoney's Common-Place Book Kept While 

He Was at Amherst 

James Mahoney was educated at a time when the common-place 
book was in the ascendant, at least for young people. It was a haven 
for scattered thoughts and was probably designed originally to afford 
practice in putting thoughts into words. James was inveterate in 
his devotion to his common-place book and the following, written 
between his eighteenth and twenty-second year, indicate an unusually 
high order of common-place book work. 



Unless the mind frequently recurs to its ideal, it drowses heavily, 
thinking of beef and money and lands and things. 



Events and objects sound the keys in the scale of being, but there 
is need of a guiding influence in the opinion, so that there may be 
harmony — an ideal though itself be undefined and the lines of its 
guidance focus only in infinity. 



Some would have us believe we are but puppets of the Divine will. 
As if the Lord in some childish mood had fallen to making dolls. 

7 



82 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

In a single pail of water is doubtless enough electricity, if developed, 
to blast the largest edifice in the world with one fierce flash; so in the 
human will is enough fierce intensity to melt away all obstacles — 
if man chooses to use it. 



Man's being is in the beginning a void, a chaos, till his God-given 
spirit move over its waters and says "Let there be light." Much is 
said nowadays of living according to nature. If I be not much mis- 
taken, loafers, brawlers and savages come as near this as any, letting 
the elements of the soul lie stagnant instead of struggling and 
agonizing to rise up from the slimy pool, obeying the impulse of the 
Ideal. 



There is especial need of an ideal standard in this age and even 
in this country, for the standard is the dollar mark, which some 
observing men affirm is the standard, not only of money but of 
opinions, morals and religion. In a word the tendency of the age is 
material, dwelling on external forms and surface force and losing 
its hold on the spirit of things. 



We hear the expression "buried in thought. " What an absurdity! 
Why it is only by thought that we are really excavated. 



Man may confidently follow his highest aspirations, till the wild 
rumor rumbles through the universe, that he who incited them, the 
Lord, is overthrown and Satan reigns supreme. 



Knowing that the rosy lips of the opening bud and the glories 
of the sunset are but the reflex beauties of the jewel of the soul, as 
the sunlight sparkles upon it. Let us glorify the jewel and burnish 
it till it show its highest radiance, the Ideal. 



With a disposition, sentiment, thought, a new force is expanding 
in our soul to guide acts, to weigh in determining character. 



One result from the influence of the Ideal, is the purification of 
our motives, which lie at the root of all actions and determine 
character. 



But who may tell of a sacred vision of the soul in the words of 
every day? Who may catch it for any words? 'Twould be as hard 
as to catch the Aurora and put it in your pocket. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 83 

To purge the soul from taint of selfish thought. To purge the 
soul from filth of evil ancestry, to keep the heart pure as the driven 
snow, the spirit sparkling with youth even in age, this is work worthy 
of man. 



Nature has no beauty for him whose heart and head are not good 
and kind. 



Since it is our highest faculties that serve the Ideal; since aspira- 
tion is the service they render and not theories and formulas, which 
might be dangerous; it follows, hence, that those who strive after 
the Ideal continually endeavor to purify their own acts and 
thoughts and to reform others. 



All agree that the subjective world is as real as the objective, but 
all do not consider that this implies that every man is the germ of a 
universe, capable of expanding into oceans, forests and mountains, 
that is vast and noble thoughts and as the laws of the objective 
converge to some mysterious focus and the deeper we penetrate 
into the depths of nature, the more closely do they converge to the 
thoughts and aspirations of man point darkly toward an ideal, and 
the higher we ascend with the noblest natures, the nearer we seem 
to approach the holy presence of the Ideal. 



But as nature offers perfumed breezes, violets and roses to the 
shapeless blue of the skies, thus we should offer our purest, noblest 
thoughts to our Ideal, though he will not descend from his high 
abode, in naked form before our vision. Well for us, perhaps, that 
it is so, for were the mystery rent, God himself might burst upon us 
in piercing splendor. 



Is it not safer to follow the risings of the moon, the settings of the 
sun, to "go to the sea in ships," try any fiery, any watery element, 
than to venture upon that internal universe, where there is no height, 
no depth, yet all that is high or deep; no night, no day, yet all 
that is dark or light. Oh, surely it would be madder than any airy 
project that ever entered the brain of lunatic, unless we believe there 
is a magnet, true as ever needle to the pole, far safer than to follow 
along the turnpike of custom. 



It is said that the mind cannot act until it is awakened by the 
senses. Oh when will the mind grow independent of this call -bell 
and mount to its own regions self -incited? 



84 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

It is the habit since the Darwinian theory to speak of everything 
as decided by its environment, by its conditions; everything as held 
fast in the iron fangs of fate, until the poor human soul cries in its 
struggles, "O God, the universe is weighing upon me. Free me 
from this load." 



Sweet the mem'ries shed around us 

By the sacred past; 
Strongly friendship's ties have bound us. 

One united class. 

— J. F. Morse. 

Darlet-in-The-Dalb 

Amherst, Massachusetts 

Sunday, September 5, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I learned with sincere grief of the sudden passing away of your 
brother, and my dear friend, James, by telephone from Mr. Gavin 
at Greenfield to-day. I hasten to convey to you my sincere sympathy 
in the loss which has come to you. 

I have notified various of his classmates, and, as soon as the details 
of the sad event reach you, I wish you would inform me of them and 
call upon me freely for any service which I can render to you in our 
mutual sorrow. 

I can be reached here and can go on to Boston at once if I can in any 
way assist you. 

Mrs. Dakin and my boys join me in sympathy for you and your 
sister, for the loss which has come so suddenly to us all. 

Most sincerely, 

Arthur H. Dakin. 
Miss Mahoney, 

72 G Street, So. Boston, Mass. 



Amherst, Mass., 
September 12, 1915. 
To the Family of James Mahoney. 
Dear Friends: 
I am only one of the large circle of James' friends, and while my 
heart is filled with sadness at the thought of parting with such a true 
friend as he was, I am conscious that upon you this bereavement falls 
with greatest force. Be assured that in bearing this heavy cross you 
have my heart's deepest sympathy. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 85 

James and I were classmates at Amherst, and at the end of fresh- 
man year each of us received a Topping prize of $25 for greatest 
improvement made during the year. That improvement continued 
through his entire four-years' course and, as you doubtless remember, 
he became the leading Greek scholar in the class, and received on 
Commencement day the Bond prize of $100 for the finest oration 
delivered on the Commencement stage. 

When my marriage engagement was announced a few years ago 
he wrote me some exquisite verses, full of poetic feeling and beauty. 
These lines with the title, "To Joe from Jim," were published in our 
classbook. 

I glory with you in his earnest triumphant life, and I prize the 
memory of his generous friendship. May God comfort you and 
give you peace. 

Sincerely your friend, 

Joseph O. Thompson. 



Plymouth, Mass., 
December 22, 1917. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

Boston, Mass. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I should be glad if any word of mine could adequately express the 
general appreciation in which your brother was held by all of us who 
knew him. But I have an appreciation of him wholly personal, 
gained by my intimate knowledge of his ability and worth. During 
the year we were together, his quiet persistent search for the real 
truth and worth in any subject of study, his appreciation of what was 
finest and best in books and men and things were a continual revela- 
tion and inspiration to me. No superficial work, no incomplete 
knowledge could content him. No expense of time or effort mattered 
to him if only he gained by them the real things and the substantial 
truth he sought. 

His earnest spirit, his eagerness to find the truth, his honest and 
intelligent work, and his zeal to make use of all the best which our 
common college afforded, and in it all his blameless life powerfully 
influenced me then, and have helped me ever since. 

We, who knew him, all of us, have suffered great loss by his untimely 
going; and I more than they all. 

Yours very truly, 

F. J. Heavens. 



86 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Hotel Puritan 

commonwkalth avenue 

Boston, U. S. A. 

T^ T.^ T.^ September 8, 1915. 

Dear Misses Mahoney: 

Permit me to express to you my sincere and deep sympathy in your 
sudden bereavement. 

Mr. Mahoney was my classmate at Amherst and one whom I was 
proud to number among my friends at college and since. It is an 
especially sad coincidence that he should have died at my home as I 
was about to visit him here. 

His was an earnest and purposeful character in his college days 
which developed into life of singular charm and usefulness. 

The most profound sympathy is inadequate at such a time but it 
must be a consolation to you to know that he had lived his life so well, 

Very truly yours, 

Saml. H. Kinsley, 
of Colorado Springs, 

Colorado. 
Cornell University 
College of Arts and Sciences 

Ithaca, N. Y., 
September 13, 1915. 
The Misses Mahoney, 

72 G Street, So. Boston, Mass. 
Dear Ladies: 

The news of your brother's death was a great shock to me. I had 
a delightful breakfast with him in Washington last May and he seemed 
cheerful and happy and full of plans for the future. When we parted 
I hoped that he would give us the pleasure of visiting us at Ithaca, 
since he planned to come in this direction. Later I received in San 
Francisco a note telling me of his projected trip to the Coast and of 
the paper he was to read before the National Education Associa- 
tion. Had I received his note a day or two earlier we might have 
met and perhaps have returned together. 

Please accept my heartfelt sympathy in your loss. In this I speak 
for the class as well as for myself, although the former will doubtless 
take some formal action at the earliest opportunity. With deepest 

^y^^P^^^^' W. F. Wilcox. 

When we were classmates at Amherst I did not know James 
Mahoney intimately. But I had a great respect for his ability as a 
student and thinker. He seemed to have a genuine feeling for the 
Greek and Latin literature which we studied together and a remark- 
able ability to put into vivid and chaste English with a real literary 
flavor to his rendering. In our senior year his insight and acumen 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 87 

111 grappling with the philosophical problems which Professor Garman 
brought to our attention were conspicuous and gave high promise for 
his future. 

After our paths parted at Amherst in 1884 I kept in touch with 
him only by occasional meetings or letters. Two or three times he 
saw Mrs. Wilcox and me when on hurried journeys to or through 
Boston and each meeting was marked by some act of gracious and 
thoughtful courtesy so characteristic of his gentle spirit. His interest 
in all class matters and Amherst matters was keen and noble; his 
presence at our class reunions never failed to lift them to a little 
higher plane of thought and feeling ; and he had a rare gift of clean 
and kindly humor which bound him close even to those whose dwell- 
ing place was nearer the earth than his. We shall all miss him sorely 
through the shortening years before the last of us follows in his 
footsteps. 

W. F. Wilcox. 

In the White Mountains Winter Resort 

Highland House The Hollywood 

Southern Pines 
N. C. 

Jefferson Highlands, N. H., 

September 9, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

Of course the sudden taking away of your brother and my class- 
mate makes the grief doubly hard to bear. I sincerely share your 
sorrow. In the last few years I had come to know James well, and 
to appreciate the sweetness and innate gentleness and refinement of 
his nature. He was a man among men, noble and manly and full of 
strength and courage. Only a short time ago he wrote me a tender 
letter after the loss of my daughter, and in it he expressed a strong 
conviction that those who went before were waiting for us. I am 
sure he is happy in finding those who he said were waiting for him. 
You have my tender sympathy in your loss. I wish I could be 
present Saturday, but find it impossible. 

Yours sincerely, 

Joseph H. Spafford. 

Pastor's Study 
Harvard Congregational Church 
Dorchester, Massachusetts 

My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I learned a few days ago from Mr. Ward that you were to print for 
the benefit of friends some words of appreciation of your brother 
James. 



88 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

We respected him at Amherst for his independent scholarship and 
for his earnest straightforward way of speaking and acting. He 
formed his own opinion and dared to stand back of it. He was keen 
too in his foresight of the future, taking a wide range and a large 
vision of affairs. 

Altho of a different religious creed from most of his class at college, 
while quietly maintaining his own faith, he was never bigoted or 
intrusive of others' beliefs. 

He was a loyal member of the Class of 1884, a diligent scholar, an 
indefatigable worker and a warm friend among his fellows. Jim 
Mahoney was an honor to his college and to the educational interests 
which he ably represented. 

I shall not forget the genuine courtesy and cordial hospitality 
which you all extended, during Jim's lifetime, to Mrs. Weeden and 
me when we visited your home in South Boston. 

Sincerely yours, 

Charles F. Weeden. 
July 20, 1916. 

Springfield, Mass., 
December 8, 1916. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

72 G Street, So. Boston, Mass. 
Dear Miss Mahoney : 

Your note informing me of your purpose to perpetuate the memory 
of your brother through the medium of a biographical sketch reached 
me in due season. My delay in replying thereto demands an apology 
which is hereby tendered. 

I heartily commend your undertaking as one, without qualifica- 
tion, well deserved. 

Of your brother's life work I had no intimate personal knowledge, 
but there is abundant testimony from others that it was of the highest 
order. My privilege was to be associated with him during college 
days and since graduation to meet him at class reunions, and the 
friendship thus gained I have cherished as one of my best possessions. 
We in Eighty-four from the first accepted and regarded James 
Mahoney as one of the strong men of the class, both morally and 
intellectually, and our admiration of him increased as the years 
went by. 

His death was untimely, but he has left behind a record of honor- 
able, efficient and praise-worthy achievement, most gratifying to his 
many friends. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Walter S. Robinson. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 89 

E. M. Greene, M. D. 

45 Chestnut Street 

Boston 

November 28, 1916. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I am very glad to learn that you are preparing a biography of James. 
The story of his life will carry inspiration and encouragement. 

He was one of that rare type that impresses on all classmates and 
associates an ideal of sincerity, determination to achieve the highest 
in character and mental development and of unshakable Christian 
faith that will remain a never-to-be-forgotten inspiration. 

Long years of close association increased our love and admiration 
of him as a man and brother. 

With best wishes, 

Edward M. Greene. 

The Youth's Companion 
Boston, Massachusetts 

June 28, 1916. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

It's unusual for a man to have a friend covering a period of twenty- 
five years and at the end of that period realize and appreciate his 
virtues more than at the beginning. 

Your brother and I entered college in the fall of '80 and, while we 
never were very intimate in college or afterwards, we were the best of 
friends and frequently met — always several times each year. In 
recent years I have been profoundly impressed with the high ideals 
and strong purposes to which he held and by which he guided his life. 
It was a very great shock to me to learn of his death last fall — yet 
I cannot but feel that his fifty years or more of life have enriched the 
lives of those with whom he came in contact — so that it can be truly 
said that he still lives among us. 

Yours sincerely, 

C. E. Kelsey. 

Brockton, Mass., 
September 11, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I feel that it is something which I owe to you and your sister as well 
as to myself to express my sympathy for you in the loss of your 
brother, and my own sadness in the loss of a friend. It does not 
seem thirty-five years since I first met James, at Amherst, and began 
an acquaintance which ripened into friendship which has grown 
dearer through all these years. I learned long since what, of course, 
has always been known to you, that he was one of the noblest works of 



90 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

God — a Christian gentleman, whom we '84 men loved. I don't know 
that the multiplication of words could add to that. But life means 
more to us all because we knew him. 

I was sorry not to have been able to reach the home to-day owing 
to a misunderstanding about the time, which was sent to us as 9:30 
instead of 9, so I went directly to the church. It is not possible for 
us to understand why one in the richest time of life should be called 
from his work, nor can we be reconciled to it now. But it is my hope 
that you and your sister will be upheld in your sorrow by the faith 
which we have that in God's own time when you meet him again it 
will be clear. Meanwhile I shall always remain, 
Yours very kindly, 

A. V. Lyon, M. D. 

Number One Broadway 
New York City 

January 3, 1917. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I very much regret that a continued absence from the city has pre- 
vented me from making an earlier acknowledgment to your letter 
concerning your good brother, whose untimely and premature death 
brought so much regret and sorrow to us all. It was not my good 
fortune to know him well in college, but in later years I learned to 
prize his regard and his friendship more and more, and I look back 
with the greatest pleasure upon the time when he first visited Mrs. 
Atwater and me almost twenty years ago, at our house in Fall River, 
and later, only a very few years ago, when we had a most delightful 
week with him at our summer place on the eastern end of Long Island. 

If I were to try to characterize him, I would say that he was an 
idealist and that to him all sham was abhorrent and all untruth 
revolting. He always strove for that which was the greatest good 
and allowed nothing to swerve him from the shining ideal that he 
could see ahead. 

I am sure the feeling is already borne in on many of us who were 
his classmates, that, as each day and week goes by, we miss him even 
more than we did before, and at each recurrent reunion the void 
occasioned by his absence will be very, very great. I had learned to 
love him and so can in some degree, perhaps, feel an appreciation of 
your very great loss. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Wm, C. Atwater. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

72 G Street, So. Boston, Mass. 
WCA/E 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 91 

W. H. Wheeler, Prest. H. H. Butts, Vice-Prest. O. G. Fessendbn, 

Sect'y and Treas, 

Importers of Diamonds and All Precious Stones 

Manufacturers of Gold Cases, Rings and Jewelry 

2 Maiden Lane 

18 Holborn Viaduct, London 

32 Sarphatistraat, Amsterdam 

Telephone 7365 Cortland 

Cable "Attribute" 

New York, 
November 14, 1916. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

It strikes me that a biography of your brother James would be a 
fine thing to publish. He was a classmate of mine and there was not 
a member of our class who did not with great regret hear of his being 
called from us. "Jim," as we familiarly called him, was a man and 
there is no greater word in the English language. 

Very truly yours, 

W. H. Wheeler, 



William P. Kinney, Judge 
County Court Chambers 

El Passo County 
Colorado Springs, Col. 

James Mahoney and I were fellow students at Amherst College. 
As classmates we were brought into daily contact with each other and 
I came to know him quite intimately. One of his dominating char- 
acteristics which impressed me from the start was his intense love of 
hard work. Whatever he undertook he performed with a thorough- 
ness which was exceptional. He was not content with mastering the 
allotted tasks of the day, but he pondered deeply upon the subjects 
under consideration and weighed them from every possible point of 
view. The fact that a certain conclusion had been reached by the 
author of a text-book did not satisfy him. He insisted upon reason- 
ing the matter out for himself. This thoroughness became by con- 
tinued practice a habit which controlled him through life. It marked 
his work as a teacher and was a stepping stone to the leadership 
which he attained in his chosen profession. 

He was endowed with more than ordinary ability. With this 
ability, with his zeal for ascertaining underlying causes, and with his 
habit of close application he could have made a success in almost 
any walk of life. It is especially easy to imagine him as a successful 
physician or lawyer. But he sought service rather than wealth. He 
was convinced that he should devote his talents to the instruction of 
the young. This he made his life work, and he continued in the 
harness to the very end with courage, vigor and enthusiasm undimmed. 



92 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

James Mahoney was loyal to the core. He was not demonstrative 
in his manner, but those who were closest to him well knew the warmth 
of his feelings for his friends and especially for the members of '84. 
We who survive him ever regarded him with the highest esteem. We 
shall forever treasure the countless pleasant memories of our associa- 
tions with him. 

W. P. Kinney. 
November 18, 1916. 

William Gardner, D. O. 
402 Stewart Office Building 

RocKFORD, III., 
September 21, 1915. 
The Misses Mahoney, 

72 G Street, So. Boston. 
Ladies: 

Accept my heartfelt sympathy. We too, the men of Amherst '84, 
have lost a brother. I feel that I have come to know better many of 
my classmates than I knew them when we were fellow students. I 
shall always bear in mind the form of your brother trudging up college 
hill to recitations, patient, cheerful and determined, with never a 
complaint arising from his physical infirmity, which men of less grit 
would have regarded as an insuperable handicap. His Irish will 
power and quiet, wholesome sense of humor saved him from taking 
the whips and stings of fortune too seriously, and enabled him to get 
the best possible results out of his college course. His powerful 
handclasp and wholehearted greeting were among the most gratifying 
experiences of our reunions in later years. His poetry, his eloquence 
and force in debate, his broadmindedness and balanced judgment 
made him in his maturity, one of the big, strong men of the class. 
With kindest regards believe me. 

Sincerely yours, 

William Gardner. 

Newton Centre, Mass., 
July 13, 1916. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

It is a sad pleasure to pay my affectionate tribute to the memory of 
my dear classmate — your brother James. 

He was always too generous in his hospitality, loyal in his friend- 
ships and true to those he loved. 

It was not until after my marriage that we had a home in Newton, 
that I began to know Jim better and to appreciate him at his true 
worth. What an implacable foe he was to graft! He was almost 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 93 

Miltonic in his denunciation of wrong — especially to children. How 
often have I seen him at white heat when the destructive personality- 
came in his way. And equally incandescent was he when he felt that 
any one of his friends had been falsely blamed. 

Mrs. Ward, in her quiet way, loved and appreciated the nobility of 
his nature as well as the sensitiveness of his soul. In many ways 
they were kindred spirits — both cherishing a tender regard for each 
other until the Angel of Death beckoned them onward. 

When James lost his mother, Mrs. Ward wrote to him: 

I hope that this will reach you promptly to tell you that we feel a true sorrow for 
your affliction. In your busy, but lonely life, the old home ties are precious, and we 
know what it means to you that any of them must be snapped. 

You will have, in this instance, the comfort of knowing that you have been more 
than a good son, a devoted one, an unselfish and tender one. There is no comfort of 
any other kind, when death bereaves us of our dearest. 

Most sincerely and sympathetically yours. 



E. S. P. Waed. 



In another letter to him she wrote : 



"Death is natural — and must be easier than life. 
And eternal life is beyond, and God is good." 

Each of these sympathetic friends has now proven the philosophy 
of these simple but penetrating words. 

Each Easter for years James sent Mrs. Ward the appropriate 
remembrance of flowers. This she appreciated greatly — and more 
and more as each Easter came nearer her last here. In acknowledg- 
ing them in 1900 she wrote: 

If friendship means a faithful, delicate, sympathetic power of never forgetting to 
remember, then yours for us deserves to stand model for many a more obtrusive or more 
articulate feeling. I don't know which of us enjoys your flowers and kind thoughts 
the more, my husband or I. I hope your Easter will bring you some breath of the 
immortal hope which is all that keeps this world from despair — or, I'll go so far as to 
say, from suicide, for the thoughtful. As for the thoughtless, they are as they are, and 
their gaiety is sadder than a wiser sadness. 

Both had that "wiser sadness" — for both were physically greatly 
hampered — and so expanded in soul and wisdom, and saw visions 
that were denied to many a stronger and more rugged nature. 

I can recall many a dinner of us three — many a quiet evening in 
which the conversation touched and penetrated civic, social, spiritual 
subjects, as all of which those two dear friends had thought deeply 
and for which they had acted fearlessly. Both were dreamers and 
fighters, for of such are the noblest in this staggering world of ours. 

"But such a tide as moving seems asleep. 
Too full for sound and foam. 
When that which drew from out the boundless deep 
Turns again home." 



94 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Tennyson might have written these Unes for Mrs. Ward or James 
Mahoney. Both had cryptic understanding, with such deep rehgious 
natures that they understood the Pilot and His commands when 
others could not read the signals. I think it sometimes takes great 
suffering to bring out the noblest ideals and make them of poignant 
value to humanity. 

James really completed his work, although his sudden crossing the 
bar did not make it seem so. 

Each one completes his work when he has lived the limit of his 
powers, James did that. 

His thousands of pupils are stimulated by his life. His friends are 
ennobled by his passing their way. Those who loved him feel no 
"sadness of farewell." He is the happier for this broader and more 
wonderful experience. 

And why should we grieve? 

Believe me very faithfully yours, 

Herbert D. Ward. 

The University of Chicago 
Department of Philosophy 

May 25, 1916. 
Miss N. M. Mahoney, 

72 G Street, South Boston, Mass. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

Thank you very much for sending me the copy of your brother's 
publications which has just come to hand. They show evidence of 
his characteristic carefulness and scholarship in their thoroughness of 
treatment and will be a welcome memorial of the professional side of 
his life, about which most of his classmates knew too little. He was 
so modest that he rarely told us anything about what he was doing. 

It is nearly a year now since he left us and I have thought many 
times since of his remarkable ability in college. He was far beyond 
most of us in his appreciation of the things of the mind, of fine 
literature and true scholarship. I prized his friendship and shall 
prize his memory as long as I remember anything. 

Sincerely yours, 

James H, Tufts. 

The University of Chicago 
Department of Philosophy 

July 11, 1918. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

When I think of your brother and my classmate two pictures rise 
almost inevitably, which it seems to me suggest two characteristic 
phases of his character and abilities. The first picture is of him as I 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 95 

used to meet him so frequently of a morning, he on his way to chapel, 
I on mine to breakfast. It was characteristic of his spirit that, so 
far as I know, he never asked any exemption from chapel because of 
his lameness; he merely rose earlier. Some of the rest of us were 
frequently late; I never knew him to be late. I think this is typical of 
his spirit in his whole life. He came very near to illustrating* Words- 
worth's "Happy Warrior" who, out of necessity, makes glorious 
gain. A certain resolute temper, a certain attitude of mastering, 
instead of being mastered by, what to others would have been a handi- 
cap, a certain dignity and seriousness — all these may have been part 
of his natural endowment but they were perhaps reinforced by his 
circumstances. At any rate they always challenged my respect and 
admiration. 

The other picture is of him as he used to rise and translate Greek 
in the Athene room in Williston Hall. Just why he is associated with 
this classroom more than with the classrooms in mathematics or 
philosophy in which we sat together I am not sure, but so it is. I 
think it was in that classroom that his striking ability in the use of 
language and more than this in the appreciation of the shades of 
thought and artistic expression first impresses me. Certain it was 
that although he excelled in all his studies, so far as I recall, he was 
particularly at home in the world of thought and art which was grad- 
ually dawning upon us in that classroom. It was largely beyond the 
scope of most of us but for him it was a liberation of spirit and the 
welcoming of kindred mind. The appreciation of things of the mind, 
of fine literature, and a genuine scholarship which he showed here was 
an earnest of his whole life and work in college. 

Yet in many ways I did not know him in college — none of us knew 
him — as I came to know him later at some of the class reunions. 
While he could not enter into the rough and tumble athletic life which 
made up a considerable part of our class experience while in college he 
was one of the most active in contributing to the good fellowship and 
literary features of our class reunions. In particular his poem at one 
of these reunions was by far the strongest note that has been struck on 
any of these occasions. Its interpretation of the men and values that 
we cherished brought us all nearer together in a common bond of high 
thought and noble feeling. I prized his friendship and shall always 
prize his memory. 

Yours sincerely, 

James H. Tufts. 

* Wordsworth's "Character of the Happy Warrior" to which Professor Tufts adverts 
is appended. 



96 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 



CHARACTER OF THE HAPPY WARRIOR 



Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he 

That every man in arms should wish to be? 

— It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought 

Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought 

Upon the plan that pleased his boyish thought: 

Whose high endeavors are an inward light 

That makes the path before him always bright: 

TVTio, with a natural instinct to discern 

What knowledge can perform, is diligent to leam; 

Abides by this resolve, and stops not there. 

But makes his moral being his prime care; 

Who, doomed to go in company with Pain, 

And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train! 

Turns his necessity to glorious gain. 

In face of these doth exercise a power 

Which is our human nature's highest dower; 

Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves 

Of their bad influence, and their good receives: 

By objects, which might force the soul to abate 

Her feeling, rendered more compassionate; 

Is placable— because occasions rise 

So often that demand such sacrifice; 

More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure, 

As tempted more; more able to endure. 

As more exposed to suffering and distress; 

Thence, also more alive to tenderness. 

— 'Tis he whose law is reason; who depends 

Upon that law as on the best of friends; 

Whence, in a state where men are tempted still 

To evil for a guard against worse ill. 

And what in quality or act is best 

Doth seldom on a right foundation rest, 

He labours good on good to fix, and owes 

To virtue every triumph that he knows: 

— Who, if he rise to station of command. 

Rises by open means; and there will stand 

On honourable terms, or else retire. 

And in himseK possess his own desire; 

Who comprehends his trust, and to the same 

Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim; 

And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait 

For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state; 

Whom they must follow; on whose head must fall, 

Like showers of manna, if they come at all: 

Whose powers shed round him in the common strife. 

Or mild concerns of ordinary life, 

A constant influence, a peculiar grace; 

But who, if he be called upon to face 

Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined 

Great issues, good or bad for human kind. 

Is happy as a Lover; and attired 

With sudden brightness, like a man inspired; 



a 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 97 

And, through the heart of conflict, keeps the law 

In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw; 

Or if an unexpected call succeed. 

Come when it will, is equal to the need: 

— He who, though thus endued as with a sense 

And faculty for storm and turbulence. 

Is yet a Soul whose master-bias leans 

To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes; 

Sweet images! which, wheresoe'er he be. 

Are at his heart; and such fidelity 

It is his darling passion to approve; 

More brave for this, that he hath much to love: — 

'Tis, finally, the Man, who, lifted high. 

Conspicuous object in a Nation's eye. 

Or left unthought-of in obscurity, — 

Who, with a toward or untoward lot. 

Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not — 

Plays, in the many games of life, that one 

Where what he most doth value must be won: 

Whom neither shape of danger can dismay. 

Nor thought of tender happiness betray; 

Who, not content that former worth stand fast. 

Looks forward, persevering to the last. 

From well to better, daily self-surpast: 

Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth 

For ever, and to noble deeds give birth. 

Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame. 

And leave a dead unprofitable name — 

Finds comfort in himseH and in his cause; 

And, while the mortal mist is gathering draws 

His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause: 

This is the happy Warrior; this is He 

That every Man in arms should wish to be. 

William Wordstoorth. 



Worcester, Mass., 
November 28, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

It was extremely thoughtful in you to write me of the death of your 
brother James. I had read a brief word in the newspaper but saw no 
mention of his kindred, else I should have written you. 

I knew him first in college as a fine member of the Class of '84, 
which I believe has been the most genuinely and wisely enthusiastic 
of all Amherst's classes. Then I knew him when he was a teacher 
here in Worcester. In the later years our meetings have been less 
frequent, chiefly at Amherst and at gatherings of Amherst men. His 
sweetness of temperament and thoroughness and simplicity of his 
scholarship have impressed me most. He had been, as I have seen 
him, a man of most stimulating and elevating influence. It must 
have been a rare privilege to have been, as a student, under his 



98 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

tuition. His loss will be felt most severely by those outside his 
family. 

Please accept my sincerest sympathy in the great bereavement 
which you feel. 

Cordially yours, 

Arthur P. Rugg. 
To Miss Nellie M. Mahoney. 



320 West 83d Street, New York City, 

September 12, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

The shocking news of your brother's death was sent me the past 
week by Helen Cooke.* It came, as you can imagine, as an utter 
surprise. I fancied him as hardy, if not vigorous, and good for a green 
old age. And now his brilliant career is over. I wish I might have 
seen him oftener, for every visit was an intellectual treat. 

The blow to you and your sister must be a crushing one, to you 
both I send my heartfelt sympathy. Jim was a rare man — strong 
and brave, as well as brilliant. 

Sincerely yours, 

James E. Tower. 

*A North Brookfield friend. 



Washington, D. C, 

October 28, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I received the news of your brother's death with the sense of per- 
sonal loss. I have known him slightly for a number of years and 
always enjoyed meeting him, but it was not until last winter that I 
got close to him, and then how fine he was. He was a fine type of an 
Irish gentleman (and there is nothing better) . Proud of his race and 
proud of his religion but broad and tolerant, with a scorn of anything 
base or mean. 

I used to see him walking with that lame foot of his, uncomplaining 
and with undaunted courage and a gentle and winning smile, and it 
always seemed to me an outer symbol of the way in which he walked 
through life, undaunted and brave and smiling to the end. 

I hold it high privilege to have had him as a friend, and I send to 
his sister, to whom his loss must be irreparable, my sincerest sympathy. 

Faithfully yours, 

Roland Cotton Smith. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 99 

COMMENCEMENT ORATION 

Personality and its Evolution in Character 

Though the heavens rain their bounty and the earth is heavy with 
riches and man is strong, yet, year by year, miUions are groaning with 
want, with sin and misery. Government has been blamed; capital 
has been blamed; and, now, environment is said to be the cause; a 
blind demon, who makes some the "fittest," and blesses them in their 
"survival," makes others unfit, and crushes them without mercy. 

No independent power is granted to the individual. We are shown 
our kinship to the brutes; we are analyzed into carbon, nitrogen and 
oxygen and even our self -consciousness is declared to be but a phase 
of the unknown, a ghostly phenomenon fluttering over the unknowable. 

If this be all there is to man then let the world, the flesh and the 
devil environment have their way. Let us jeer at the phrase, "Nobil- 
ity of manhood"; let us scoff at the command, "Praise God"; let us 
mock, and with our empty mockery sink back into the black unknown. 

But to whom unknown? Shall we call it "void?" But void of 
what? Has full or empty, finite or infinite, man, God or unknowable 
any meaning except to a personal individual mind? Blot personality 
from the universe and you blot not only the universe and environ- 
ment, but you blot the very act of blotting. However much environ- 
ment and race may influence, we think, not as environment and race, 
but as individuals. 

It is by the intrinsic worth of individual mind that we declare the 
existence of the universe, and race. If the world does not exist with- 
out us — as some philosophers say — if there is nothing but self, then 
the splendor of the jewel, the beauty of the flower and the rolling 
systems of the sky are but the self revealing to self its native grace, 
power and nobility. 

And if the world exist without us — as consciousness and common 
sense decide — still it is certain that we can know the universe only as 
we think it, reconstruct it within the lofty spaces of the mind; and 
still, the gem, the flower and the rolling systems of the sky are self- 
revelations of native grace, power and nobility. 

As God is Constructor of the universe and of the individual, so the 
individual himself, being in the image of God, is Reconstructor of the 
universe and self developer. Nay, in really thinking, in reconstruct- 
ing the world, we self -develop ; a genuine thought is not mere mental 
perception, but extends into the depths of the moral and spiritual. 

A new thought is a new fountain of vigor, a new life bursting up 
through the soul. Great things are allied to great thoughts; even 
slaves should be kept in dungeons and hovels, where they may not 
see the mountains and the high vault of heaven lest their souls 
expand and they burst their chains. 



100 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Thus the potential of self, the possibility of self-development is 
great. But there can be no reconstruction and no development, 
except as there exists within the self a plan of development, a deep, 
holy, central constructive thought, in a word, an ideal thought; 
which is not some fine fancy of a sentimental youth; not a fair, but 
distant shape of beauty, with snowy form and angel eyes, but it 
exists within the nature of the noble and also of the base. 

It is the birthright of man; granting dignity to human nature, 
honor to him who works it out in organic living character, and mean- 
ness to the conscious wretch who rots away in sloth and vice. It is 
that which makes the ages bow in reverence before an act of heroism; 
it is the selective standard; and urges to public and private reform. 

To accomplish this, to incorporate by living acts the noble thought 
into the body personal and the body politic, requires stern effort, a 
constant use of the conscious will-power, the personal energy. 

And let no man think his blood so pure that he may depend upon 
that; if he will trace his ancestry a little way he will find the blood of 
thieves and savages flows through his veins. Many a rascal has been 
a patrician. But let no man think his blood so villainous that he 
must despair, for he is made in the image of God. While he has one 
honest thought his own, while he can consciously, of himself, strike 
one honest blow, he has the power to exalt his nature. Many a true 
man has been a plebeian. Not for us is it to quibble whether our 
wills be free; if we feel within our being a power which we know we 
may or may not exercise, then our will is free, or consciousness is false. 

In a single drop of water there is probably enough electricity to 
melt mountains. Who will say what power the conscious self, the 
self-developer may not reveal.'' If we whine about our weakness, and 
show our craniums and tell our pedigrees and declare we are too weak 
to do anything, we fulfill our expectations and do nothing. But if we 
swear upon our soul that we are strong, that we will sniffer and will 
conquer, we will suflFer and will conquer, though death be the trophy 
of victory. Yet in this homely life of ours not with one transcendant 
bound can the soul reach its ideal. Hour by hour, moment by 
moment, calmly and sternly, crushing petty cares and fears, purging 
away the filth of evil ancestry, purging away the filth of evil habit, 
drawing life and love from race and environment, gladness from the 
morning, vigor from the sun, sternness from death, rebounding vigor 
as we pay forth love and gratitude to God and man, rejoicing in 
difficulties, the will, the active agent in self -development moves to its 
goal; finely seconded in its efforts by the reflex action system, as it 
radiates from the central, personal energy, it reacts with equal vigor 
upon the self; an act is repeated, a habit is formed, and the man is 
revolved in a self-ordained orbit. But energy is wasted in vain, no 
real character is formed, nothing but loathsome egotism and selfish- 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 101 

ness is gained, unless the man employ his growing powers in pure 
hearted honesty. Without this quickening sincerity which probes 
into the soul of life, our hearts within us become dead hearts, our 
thoughts become dead thoughts and our lives moulder away. Look 
into shallow eyes and barren faces, look into the bleaching lives of 
white-haired hypocrites and shiny pated rascals, and see the desola- 
tion of dishonesty, sown thick with lies. Lies, lies, lies, until the 
home, the church, the state, are crawling with vile things, and we 
almost look to Heaven for a thunder-bolt to turn them into dust; 
and, oh, how our hearts beat high at the brave and honest soul in 
scorn of wealth and worldly power, speaking out its bold truth to 
the ages. 

These are the personal, elements in the evolution of character; the 
strong will linked to the lofty thought in honest sincerity. And it is 
a glorious thing to unfold the powers of our being and grow strong 
beneath the sun of heaven, to feel the gladness of new strength, in the 
brain and new purity in the heart ; the very birds and fields in spring 
feel the joy of new-born growing life, and why should not the joy of 
man be great as he consciously assists in his growth of character? 
And when we have done our best, man by man, and man with man, 
then we may sternly blame capital and government and environment 
if there be any failure. 

Some say there is no God in Heaven and no life hereafter. If this 
be so, yet e'er we sink down into nothingness, we may proudly greet 
our soul after its strong endeavor with "Well done my heart." But 
if God still reigns, we think He will be glad that men act like men, 
and will say: "Well done, good and faithful." 

James Mahoney. 



CHAPTER V 

"A faithful Friend is the true image of the Deity. 

Thrice blest whose lives are faithful prayers, 
Whose loves in higher love endure; 

What souls possess themselves so pure, 
Or is there blessedness like theirs? 



There's nothing dark, below, above, 
But in its gloom I trace thy love. 
And meekly wait that moment, when 
Thy touch shall turn all bright again! 

The turf shall be my fragrant shrine; 
My temple. Lord! that arch of thine; 
My censer's breath the mountain airs. 
And silent thoughts my only prayer. 



-Tennyson. 



— Moore. 



— Moore. 



Letters from People Associated with Him 

St. Ann's Rectory 
Worcester, Massachusetts 

My dear Miss Mahoney: 

Let me say a word of sympathy to you for the loss of your brother 
who was a very dear friend to me. 

Catholic life, especially in Massachusetts, has been poorer since 
the day the wires flashed from the West that Professor James 
Mahoney was dead. The friends who knew him best and loved him 
most had heavy hearts that hour, and, save where the goodness of 
God and mellowing time assuage the sense of loss, have much of the 
burthen yet. 

He was a rare man, — one from a thousand. A ripe scholar was he, 
a fast and true friend, and, in defense of right and hate of wrong, as 
fearless and as knightly a man as ever rode with couched lance and 
visor down. 

I have heard James Mahoney in public discourses and marvelled 
at the depth and accuracy of his utterance. I sat with him for hours 
afterwards in the freedom and friendship of my study and marvelled 
the more, — so learned was he, so sure and firm his advance as he 
warmed with his theme. It was said of Father Faber that he could 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 103 

light up dark abysses of thought as by a lightning flash. James 
Mahoney had something of that same power, — he was wonderfully 
illuminating when his heart and mind were burning with the love of 
his work. He was master of German and of most of the Roman 
tongues, held German University degrees in mathematics, and was 
familiar with Greek and Latin as most teachers of our day are with 
the ordinary literature of our own tongue. All this with a native 
energy and a tireless love of labor, made him, in an eminent degree, 
what I have called him, a ripe scholar. 

Once James Mahoney took you to his heart in friendship he would 
have your grow there. You became part of himself, and no courteous 
lover ever sought for his lady-love more delicate and tender ways of 
manifesting preference than did he, — costly and rare books, beautiful 
flowers on occasions that were sacred to you, a picture with a history, 
— anything and everything that could speak to you of him. 

In strange contrast to this gentleness was the flaming fierceness of 
his hate for a lie, a wrong to the defenceless, or treachery in any form. 
Then the whole man was transformed. His speech could be vitriol, 
his eye full of lightnings, and. were he an armed man in other and 
older times his sword would have worked havoc among the oppressors 
of the weak. James Mahoney had a hot and turbulent heart by 
nature; he was gentle unspeakably when he saw God and right and 
truth in control. May God rest him ! 

Very truly yours, 

Jno. J. McCoy. 

All Souls' Rectory 

Springfield, Mass. 
November 28, 1916. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

In sending to you my estimate of your dear brother's character, I 
feel that I am doing the one service which he would ask from a friend, 
if his silent tongue could speak. Unselfishness so strongly character- 
ized him that in the interchange of friendly confidence one seemed 
ever warned against speaking to him the word of praise. As deeply 
rooted in his nature was another virtue — his devotion to yourself and 
your sister. In life he would have his good qualities and deeds speak 
for themselves. Now at last one may write the word of genuine 
esteem and feel that it would be the wish of our departed one to have 
a friend bring such a word to both of you to comfort you in your 
loneliness. 

Years brought to our friend increase of efficiency in his chosen call- 
ing. We to whom he came in the early '80's, fresh from signal aca- 
demic achievement, take pride in the fact that we were the first to 
sit before this great teacher. It was given to us to receive of the first 



104 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

fruits of that mind aflame with enthusiasm to give unto others from 
out its treasures and to impart to young minds his own passionate 
love of study. In his long pedagogical career among the thousands 
who deem it an honor to have been taught by him, perhaps no pupils 
are indebted so largely to him as we who were privileged to make up 
his first class. At that period of his early fervor the youthful teacher, 
ambitious to succeed in his chosen profession, bent every energy to 
have success stamped upon the first work assigned to him. From 
the beginning he gave promise of that eminence as an educator to 
which he came in after years. It seems now a far-off day since we 
first greeted our youthful teacher, but we have not forgotten and will 
not forget James Mahoney. His was a character too strong, a mind 
too gifted, a heart too benevolent, not to have left an impress for all 
time upon our young lives. Our school-boy admiration of his gifted 
mind underwent no dissolution when years brought us maturer judg- 
ment and larger experience. How welcome to me, as one of his early 
pupils, the word that often came of the increasing reputation in his 
profession conceded to him by impartial minds in the city of his 
adoption. 

The interest of my teacher in me and my respect for him ripened 
into a friendship which grew stronger with the years and continued 
until death called him away. In that friendly intimacy I knew him 
as few have known him. It revealed the high standard of rectitude 
which he set for himself and for others, the moral convictions from 
which he would not be shaken at any cost, the clean white life of this 
noble man. One distinctive quality characterized him: His con- 
tempt for dishonesty in any form, and to this many of his acts and 
words may be referred for their explanation. Scrupulously upright 
himself, he expected as much from others. Compromise with the 
faintest semblance of dishonesty was abhorrent to him. However 
much his heart was set upon an object worthy of honorable ambition 
and pursuit, it lost its value to him if it must be gained through the 
devious ways of truckling to men of baser moral fiber. This attitude, 
a rebuke to others who were wont to shade their acts for temporal 
gain, brought back upon him the common charge of denounced insin- 
cerity that he was unpractical and "temperamentally unfit." He 
heroically resented the unjust imputation, the while he grew in the 
esteem of his friends who appreciated his high purposes and moral 
worth. He discerned the ignoble in others to shrink from it; when it 
became obtrusive he unmasked its hollow pretense. This trait may 
not have brought him worldly advancement; dull resignation would 
have earned him more ; but this sensitiveness to moral lapse in others 
and the courage to rebuke it revealed the high sense of uprightness 
and honor which guided his own life. Because of this he may have 
lost the complacent regard of some, but never their respect. The 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 105 

man does not live who is justified in tracing his ill-will to any pretext 
that would imply a mean or dishonorable act on the part of James 
Mahoney. When one recalls his passionate love of justice and truth 
and his fearlessness in denouncing hypocrisy, in any portrayal of this 
character, the thought comes unbidden which pictures him of heroic 
stature. He would have been a great tribune of a just but unpopular 
cause if his life had been cast in another setting. Death's summons 
in the very hour when he had come into his own may have seemed 
untimely, but it has in it the comfort that, before he went to his grave, 
his great talents had received the highest measure of recognition and 
that at last his dreams of years had come true. In the years of our 
friendship the many proofs of his kindness towards me will be one of 
the sweetest memories of my life. It would be ungracious for me to 
reveal by the written word the sacred intimacy of the friendship which 
bound us together, as it would be impertinent for me to speak to you 
of that sweet home life in which you knew him as son and brother. 
James Mahoney was a Catholic gentleman, a loyal son of the 
Church of his fathers. It was a source of pride to him that he had 
taught many boys who in later life had consecrated their lives to the 
priesthood of his faith. The struggling poor had first claim upon his 
deep human sympathies. He could not give as largely as he would 
wish of material goods, but without counting the cost of personal 
sacrifice, he gave generously from the wealth of his trained mind. 
Hundreds of young men owe to this good and great man's personal 
labors and counsel — and that gratuitously outside the schoolroom — 
the education which he made possible for them and the careers 
towards which he had directed and aided their ambitions. His 
social life was cast among men above the ordinary in education and 
achievement. When the time was his, he was an honored guest at 
exclusive and intellectual gatherings. In such circles he was proud 
to be known as a Catholic. When conversation or written paper 
touched upon his Church he ever proved himself a loyal son and 
champion. For the honest inquirer, he had the lucid "reason for the 
faith that was in him"; for the unfair critic, the strong defense or the 
caustic rebuke upon religious bias. His conception of the educated 
gentleman went beneath the exterior of polite speech and action. 
With him education was a misnomer if it did not influence for good 
the mind and the heart of him who had received it. He expected 
such a man to be freer than other men from prejudice and hate. 
Religious narrowness, then, in an educated man never failed to 
awaken his contempt or to stir him to brand any manifestation of it 
in such a person as a contradiction to the claim of a judicial mind or of 
true culture. When called to offer service for his Church he counted 
not the sacrifice but gave to her the best of his great gifts. Who ever 
heard a lecture of his on a Catholic subject but will recall the earnest 



106 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

faith that inspired his words? If it had not been decreed otherwise 
by his early taking off, what splendid service he might have given to 
his Church in bringing his scholarship to the exposition of her teach- 
ings ! In this lamentable shortening of his brilliant career and in the 
ending of the promise of aid which his future held out for them, his 
fellow Catholics find the keenest cause for sorrow. 

On that fatal day which was to be his last on earth as he planned 
for his return, I was in his thoughts. His message to me was "Home- 
ward bound." Since that day how often have these words come 
back to me. They will ever bring me consolation as in vain I look 
for the coming of the friend whom I loved. He has gone to the eternal 
home prepared for such a truly noble soul — homeward bound in truth. 

Yours sincerely, 

Owen M. McGee. 



Principal's Office, High School, 
Worcester, Mass., June 9, 1886. 

To Whom It May Concern: 

This may certify that Mr. James Mahoney has been for nearly two 
years a teacher in this school. During this time he has conducted, 
regularly, recitations in Cicero, Caesar, Latin and Greek Prose Com- 
position and Beginning Greek. Also for a time as substitute he has 
done excellent work in Homer, Herodotus and Anabasis. In every 
place he has proven himself a thorough master. I should have no 
hesitation in recommending him for any position that he would be 
willing to undertake. All that could be said of any man as a teacher, 
disciplinarian, gentleman, I can trustfully say of him. 

Alfred S. Roe, 

Principal. 



Principal's Office, High School, 
Worcester, Mass., October 10, 1887. 

To Whom It May Concern: 

Mr. James Mahoney was for three years a successful teacher in this 
school. His work was in Greek and Latin, having intrusted to his 
care a large class of turbulent boys. His success in imparting knowl- 
edge and securing order was marked. I have not the least hesitation 
in recommending him as a young man certain to succeed in whatever 
work he undertakes. 

Alfred S. Roe, 

Principal. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 107 

Office of 

Superintendent of Public Schools 

492 Main Street 

Worcester, Mass. 

November 1, 1887. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

This will certify that James Mahoney was employed in the High 
School of this city two years. He is a young man of excellent char- 
acter, superior scholarship, and an earnest, conscientious teacher. He 
may be relied on implicitly. 

Very respectfully, 

A. P. Marble. 



Worcester, Mass., 
August 11, 1888. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

This may certify that Mr. James Mahoney was a successful teacher 
in our High School for three years and is cordially recommended by 

Yours sincerely, 

Wm. T. Souther, M. D., 
Member of H. S. Committee. 

Office of 
E. Warner, M. D. 

574 Main Street, Worcester, Mass., 

July 30, 1888. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

This certifies that the bearer, James Mahoney, was a teacher in our 
High School for several terms and his resignation was received with 
regret. 

As chairman of the Committee I visited his classes many times and 
always found his work satisfactory. He is a young man of refined 
manners, scholarly habits and a good disciplinarian. Careful and 
accurate himself he seeks to make of his pupil an accurate scholar. 

He is cordially commended as worthy of the confidence of any who 
may wish his services. 

E. Warner. 

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 

August 13, 1888. 
This is to certify that James Mahoney, of North Brookfield, Mass., 
has studied for one year in the graduate department of History and 
Politics at this institution, having been graduated at Amherst Col- 



108 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

lege, Massachusetts, with the highest honors. He has done excellent 
work in Baltimore and I have no hesitation in recommending him in 
the strongest terms to the favorable consideration of any board of 
college trustees, or any public school committee. While possessing 
remarkable attainments in point of scholarship, he is a man of finest 
character and of the truest spirit. In whatever post he may be 
placed he will prove himself thoroughly trustworthy. I take great 
pleasure in giving this testimonial. 

H. B. Adams, 
In charge of the Department of History and Politics. 



Johns Hopkins University 
Baltimore, Md. 

March 21, 1904. 
Dear Sir: 

Mr. James Mahoney writes to me that he is a candidate for a 
position on the Board of Supervisors of Schools in the city of Boston, 
and he asks me to write you in regard to him. 

Mr. Mahoney was a graduate student in the Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity in the academic year 1887-88. During that time he attended 
the following courses: 

Under Professor H, B. Adams 
Seminary 
Ancient Politics 
Church History 
Prussia 

Renaissance and Reformation 
Under Professor R. T. Ely 

Finance 
Under Dr. Jameson 

England and France 
English and American Constitutions 
Modern Historians 
United States History, 1789-1793 
Greek and Roman History 
Under Professor Emmott 

Historical Jurisprudence (English Law) 
Under Dr. W. Wilson 
Administration 
So far as the records show his work while here was entirely satis- 
factory. 

Yours very truly, 

Ira Remsen, 
President. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 109 

"The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his 
listener with the wish to teach himself." — Bulwer-Lytton. 

APPLICATION OF JAMES MAHONEY FOR A POSITION AS 
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT 

The data on Mahoney's equipment as a teacher are so well stated 
in the document, that his application for the post of assistant super- 
intendent of schools is appended: 

Education 

5. Public Schools of North Brookfield, Mass., graduating from 
High School 1880. 

Amherst College, graduating 1884. 

Johns Hopkins University, 1887-1888. 

Sauveur School of Languages, 1889. 

Certain courses in Law School of Boston University, 1894. 

University of Berlin, Germany, 1895-1896. 

Studies 

6. Since graduating have made special studies in the subject of 
History, in the broad sense of that term, pursuing it along economic, 
social, political, legal and constitutional {i. e. Civil Government) lines, 
at Johns Hopkins, under Professors Herbert B. Adams, J. Franklin 
Jameson, Woodrow Wilson and George H. Emmott; at University 
of Berlin, under Paulsen, Dilthey, Kohler, Schmoller, von Treitscheke 
and Wagner; and in Boston, under the general direction in legal 
matters of Homer Albers, Esq. 

These studies have made it necessary to become familiar with the 
modern languages, particularly German and French (with some 
knowledge of Italian and Spanish) . 

Have found it necessary also in connection with work in teaching 
to become acquainted with the modern phases of educational thought, 
and in this connection took a course in the University of Berlin under 
Professor Stumpf on Educational Psychology. 

Salaries Received 

7. Employed by President Julius H. Seelye of Amherst College 
to teach his daughter, two years ($2 per hour). 

Worcester High School, three years ($1,300 was, I think, salary 
last year of service). 

English High School, Boston, sixteen years (present salary $3,060). 

References 

8. Bishop Thomas J. Conaty (member of the High School Com- 
mittee during service in Worcester). 



110 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Rev. John J. McCoy (also, formerly of Worcester High School 
Committee). 

President George Harris, Amherst College. 

Professor Charles E. Garman, Amherst College. 

Professor E. P. Crowell, Amherst College. 

Professor D. P. Todd, Amherst College. 

Arthur H, Dakin, Esq., Trustee of Amherst College, 

Mr. Ellis Peterson, recently Supervisor of Boston Public Schools 
(in charge of my work for about fourteen years). 

Dr. John G. Blake (formerly of the Boston High School Com- 
mittee) . 

Homer Albers, Esq., Professor in Boston Law School. 

Professor Joseph Kohler, University of Berlin. 

General and Special Studies, Etc. 

9. In Amherst College, took a general course; Natural Science 
(including Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, etc.), Mathematics 
(including Calculus, differential and integral; Quaternions, mathe- 
matical electricity, etc.), and the Languages, particularly, Latin, 
Greek and German. 

Since graduation have striven to make my studies as concrete as 
possible, e. g., in the study of Civics, have striven to obtain practical 
knowledge as well as theoretical information; while in Berlin, for 
example, frequently visited the Prussian Legislature and the German 
Parliament; in my legal studies, have striven to acquire a knowledge 
of the laws as actually administered, as well as a knowledge of legal 
theory and legal history; and hold certificates of admission to the 
State Bar of Massachusetts, and to the Bar of the United States Cir- 
cuit Court;* in my educational studies, have striven, not only to get 
an insight into the science of education, but have also sought to 
acquire knowledge of the different methods of training children, e. g., 
in Berlin, obtained permission from the Minister of Public Instruction 
to visit the different schools of that city, and availed myself of the 
privilege. 

In Boston, have had a peculiar opportunity to apply such knowl- 
edge, having had approximately five thousand boys in the Entering 
Class of the English High School, and have thus also had exceptional 
personal opportunity to study the results obtained in the Boston 
Secondary Schools. 

Am a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, of the National 
Educational Society and of the American Historical Association. 

See page at end of chapter for list of societies of which he either was 
or had been a member. 

*Was later admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 111 

RECENT TESTIMONIALS 

305 Chestnut Ave., Jamaica Plain, 
October 3, 1903. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I carefully observed your work as a teacher of History in the Eng- 
lish High School, and am glad to write that in aim, method, and result 
it was, in my opinion, excellent. 

Wishing you continued success in your work, I remain 
Sincerely yours, 

Ellis Peterson. 



Boston, February 27, 1904. 

To the Honorable School Committee, 

Mason Street, Boston. 
Gentlemen: 

The undersigned desire to present for your consideration the appli- 
cation of Mr. James Mahoney as a candidate for the position of your 
Board of Supervisors, made vacant by the resignation of Mr. Martin. 

Mr. Mahoney is forty-two years of age and has been for twenty 
years a teacher. His early training was in the schools of North 
Brookfield, Massachusetts; and he entered Amherst College in 1880. 

While in college he took prizes for best work in Physics, Astronomy 
and Philosophy; he took all the first honors in the department of 
Greek, and, finally, the prize for the best production on the 
Commencement stage. He was in the same college class with 
James H. Tufts, Professor of Philosophy in Chicago University, 
Walter F. Wilcox, Professor of Social Science and Statist in Cornell 
University, and Chief Statistician of the United States Census, 
William B. Clark, Professor of Geology at Johns Hopkins, Geologist 
of the U. S. Geological Survey and State Geologist of Maryland, and 
President Guy W. Wadsworth of Occidental College, California. Mr. 
Mahoney received his degree Magna Cum Laude in June, 1884. He 
was appointed that year to a position in the Worcester High School 
• — a school which rated as one of the best in the country. Here he 
remained for three years. Then, desiring to fit himself for higher 
service, he took a year of post-graduate work in the Historical Depart- 
ment of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore under the charge 
of the late Professor Herbert B. Adams. 

He came to Boston in 1888, and accepted a position in the English 
High School. Here he passed through the various grades of service: 
substitute, temporary teacher, junior master, junior master on 'permanent 
tenure, and now for several years, a master. 



112 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

During his sixteen years of service in the Enghsh High School he 
has had under his charge approximately five thousand young men 
coming direct to him from the various Grammar Schools of this city; 
and he has always insisted on good behavior and upon accuracy and 
diligence in work. 

While in Germany he had permission to visit the Gymnasia and 
other institutions of learning in that city; and thus he familiarized 
himself with German methods in secondary education and with the 
spirit of public instruction in Germany. 

He has travelled extensively in Europe and is a man of wide expe- 
rience in educational methods and requirements and is in our opinion 
a man eminently qualified in scholarship and character for the position 
to be filled by your Honorable Committee. 

Mr. Mahoney's work has been valuable especially in History and 
Civil Government. Mr. Mahoney has not only made a particular 
study of History, with unusual advantages for a man in the public 
school service, but he has also devoted himself to a broad study of the 
history of laws and constitutions, and is at the present time a member 
of the State Bar of Massachusetts and of the Circuit Court of the 
United States, having been admitted to the latter by Judge Colt. He 
is thus especially qualified to take up with advantage and to develop 
the work begun by Mr. Martin. 

Mr. Mahoney is also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. 

We trust that the qualifications thus outlined will be carefully con- 
sidered by you in the selection of a candidate to fill this most impor- 
tant position. We believe that there is a peculiar opportunity now 
presented to your hand to improve the quality of the instruction in 
our public schools and we know of no other man who would put as 
much conscience, energy and brain into that work as Mr. Mahoney. 

Very respectfully, 

Robert Grant, Francis H. Appleton, 

Mrs. J. Montgomery Sears, Moorfield Storey, 

James Jeffrey Roche, J. T, Coolidge, Jr., 

William Caleb Loring. Maurice H. Richardson, 

Mrs. Henry Parkman, Mrs. Thomas Mack, 

Charles P. Putnam, Homer Albers, 

Thomas J. Gargan, Geo. M. Garland, 

Katherine E. Conway, Arthur H. Dakin, 

Caleb Chase, Thomas F. Galvin, 

Mary E. Blake, P. M. Keating, 

Mrs. Henry Whitman, And others. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, 
Herbert D. Ward, 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 113 

New York Shepabd Norwell Company Paris 

Winter Street and Temple Place 

Cable Address " Shepnorwell" 

Boston, Mass., April 7, 1904. 
To THE Honorable School Committee, 

Mason Street, Boston. 
Gentlemen: 

I regret very much that I was not in the city to sign Mr. Mahoney's 
petition, and add my name to this Hst of gentlemen, but I think Mr. 
Mahoney would be a good acquisition if elected to fill the vacancy 
now existing on the Board of Supervisors. 

Very truly yours, 

John Shepard. 



Mr. James Mahoney was graduated from Amherst College with 
the class of 1884, a class conspicuous for its brilliant men, and for 
the prominent part they have taken for twenty years in matters per- 
taining to the welfare of the College. This class has been a leader in 
almost every good work. It gives me great pleasure to state that Mr. 
Mahoney was one of the brilliant men of that class. He was grad- 
uated with honor and selected on the basis of rank as one of the 
speakers on the Commencement stage. He won the Bond prize for 
excellence in his Commencement address. 

As a student, Mr. Mahoney attained the highest success. Presi- 
dent Seelye often spoke to me in glowing terms of his work. It is my 
conviction that he richly deserves the high praise that he received. 
He was thorough, faithful, always ready. He thought for himself 
and would not rest until he had solved his problem. As a man he 
enjoys the highest confidence of the Faculty and of his classmates. 

Of his work since graduation, I do not need to speak. "He who 
runs may read." 

He is a man of the highest moral principles, completely devoted to 
his work, and has a persistence and energy as well as reserve power 
that makes his success assured from the start. 

I understand that he is a candidate for Supervisor of Schools in 
Boston. It gives me pleasure to testify to the splendid qualifications 
which he possesses for such work. He will bring with him to that 
task indefatigable energy, judicial poise, clearest insight, and the 
wisdom gained from the long experience of a successful teacher. 

Respectfully, 

Chas. E. Garman, 
Professor of Philosophy. 
Amherst College, 
March 26, 1904. 

9 



114 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Amherst College 

Depahtment of Latin 

Amherst, Mass. 

Mr. James Mahoney, of the class of 1884 in this College, ranked in 
scholarship among the first four in his class. 

Of his intellectual ability and of the qualities of his character while 
he was a member of College, I have a distinct recollection. With his 
subsequent career as a teacher I have also had some acquaintance. 

In my judgment, he is exceedingly well equipped in every respect 
for the position of Supervisor of Schools, for which office I under- 
stand he is a candidate. 

E. P. Crowell. 
March 22, 1904. 

Amherst College 

Department of Biology 

Amherst, Mass. 

Amherst, March 23, 1904. 

I remember Mr. Mahoney very distinctly as a student in Amherst 
College. I knew him as a young man of firm and strong character, 
high principles and aims and of earnest purpose. He was always 
courteous and gentlemanly and well liked and highly respected by his 
classmates and teachers. 

He was a first-class scholar, a man of clear thought, perseverence, 
industry and of sound judgment. He carried through what he under- 
took and did not flounder. He had a sound mind and plenty of 
common sense. 

Men of that stamp and stuff generally improve as they grow older, 
and I doubt not that Mr. Mahoney has fulfilled the promises of his 
college life. I shall be greatly surprised if he has not steadily main- 
tained his former high standard of work and life. 

John M. Tyler, 
Amherst College. Professor of Biology. 

COPIES OF TESTIMONIALS 

FILED WITH BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 

BEFORE BEGINNING SERVICE IN 

BOSTON, 1888 

No. 104 August 21, 1888. 

Personal Record. 

1. The date of this examination is Aug. 21, 1888. 

2. My number is 104. 

3. I apply for a first grade certificate. 

4. My place of birth is Hardwick, Mass. 

5. My age is twenty-six years and three months. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 115 

6. I have spent the greater part of my Hfe in North Brookfield, 
Mass. 

7. I was educated in the pubhc schools of North Brookfield, 
Amherst College and Johns Hopkins University. 

8. I completed the course of study at Amherst College. 

9. I travelled in Europe the summer of 1885, spending most of my 
time in Germany. This gave new life to my studies in many ways. 
The past year I lived with a German family in Baltimore and so 
extended the practice which I got in that language abroad. 

10. My reading till within a few years was quite general; but I 
have read more works of classic English and of History than of other 
subjects. 

11. (1) I have devoted special attention to Political Economy and 
History the past year or two, but in college my course was general. 

(2) I think I am best qualified to teach the languages or History. 

(3) I have chosen History and Historical Geography as my "elective." 

12. (1) I taught school (2) for three years (3) in Worcester, Mass. 

(4) in the Worcester High School (4) having pupils in the second and 
third years of their course. (5) My entire time was passed in the 
High School. (6) I was not the only teacher; I was an assistant. 
(7) My teaching was special, being mainly Latin and Greek; although, 
since I had charge of a room, I had also Rhetoricals and some Mathe- 
matics. (8) I am not engaged at present. (9) If I receive a certifi- 
cate I shall at once be available for as good a position as the Com- 
mittee deem me worthy. 

13. (1) Pres. J. M. Seelye, Amherst, Mass. 

Dr. H. B. Adams, Baltimore, Md. 

(2) George Swan, Esq., Worcester, Mass. 
Supt, A. P. Marble, Worcester, Mass. 

(3) Dr. Warren Tyler, North Brookfield, Mass. 



Amherst, August 2, 1886. 
Mr. James Mahoney was graduated at Amherst in the class of '84 
and was the best scholar in his class. He was good in all the depart- 
ments and excelled especially in the Greek and Latin Classics. He 
took the Hutchins Prize for the highest excellence as a Greek scholar. 
He was gentlemanly in manners, exemplary in his whole conduct and 
without reproach in his moral and religious character. Since his 
graduation he has taught with the greatest success in the Worcester 
High School. It is bis purpose, I believe, to make teaching his life 
work, and I anticipate for him the highest success in that profession. 

W. S. Tyler, 
Professor of Greek. 



116 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Amherst College, 
Mr. W. E. Hatch, July 11, 1884. 

My dear Sir: 
Your note of inquiry concerning Mr. James Mahoney is at hand. 
It gives me great pleasure to give him a very strong recommendation, 
both in scholarship and character. One is so often asked for a recom- 
mendation where cautiousness of utterance is painfully essential that 
it is agreeable — because so rare — to be asked about a young graduate 
who is so brilliant a scholar and so fine in his manhood as Mahoney. 
He is one of the finest scholars in Greek I have ever graduated and I 
believe has the same record in Latin. He is faithful and reliable in 
every way, and has coupled with these qualities a certain quiet 
enthusiasm which as a teacher must prove infectious. In character 
and manliness too he is all that you could wish. Unlike his race, he 
is not mercurial in temperament, but calm, judicious and well bal- 
anced. If you have a good place for such a person I hope you will 
give it to him, for I feel confident you will find him a prize. This 
view here presented, I think would be endorsed by our Faculty, but 
most of them are out of town and so cannot speak. 

Yours very truly, 

R. H. Mather. 

P. S. — Mr. Mahoney closed his course by taking the Bond prize of 
$100 for the best eflforts on the Commencement stage. 

Geo. G. Parker, Esq., North Brookfield, 

Milford, Mass. July 10, 1884. 

Dear Sir: 

Mr. James Mahoney informs me that he is an applicant for the 
position of principal teacher in your High School, and wishes me to 
express to you my opinion of his qualifications for the place and his 
general character and standing in this community. It gives me great 
pleasure to comply with his request. Mr. Mahoney has lived in this 
town from his childhood; has attended the several grades of our 
schools, graduating from our High School with high honor and enter- 
ing at once on a collegiate course at Amherst, where he maintained a 
high standing, graduating this year with most distinguished honor. 
During his collegiate course he was awarded more literary prizes than 
were received by any other member of his class, — in all $265. His 
moral character is above reproach, and nothing more need be said 
about it. Mr. Mahoney does not know the contents of this letter, or 
what my opinion of him is. I believe he will fulfill all the require- 
ments of the position he seeks. If anything I have stated shall aid 
him in obtaining it I think the benefit will be yours as well as his. 
Yours very respectfully, 

Chas. Adams, Jr. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 117 

North Brookfield, 

August 20, 1888. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

The bearer, James Mahoney, of this town I have known from child- 
hood and had he not fallen into the hands of a Quack would have been 
a good physical specimen. He has since his recovery been well and 
I consider him sound. He is of good repute in morals and integrity 
and I believe a worthy young man. 

Warren Tyler, M. D. 

In college he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. In after life, 
among the prominent associations and societies of which he was a 
member are: 

The National Educational Society, 

The American Historical Association, 

Catholic Alumni Sodality, 

Catholic Literary Union, 

University Club, 

Bostoner Deutsche Gesellschaft, 

Salon Francais de Boston, 

South Boston Trade Association, 

South Boston Citizens' Association, 

Amherst College Boston Club, 

Public School Art League, 

The Johns Hopkins University Club of New England, 

The Alumni Association of Harvard Universiy, 

The Alumni Association of Amherst College, 

The National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, 

The English Council, 

The Amateurs, 

The American School Peace League, 

The Boston Home and School Association, 

The Drama League of Boson, 

An Associate Member of the Ninth Regiment, 

Boston Teachers' Club, 

While in Washington he was a member of the Cosmos Club, 

The Home Club, 

He formerly belonged to the Twentieth Century Club, 

The Unity Art Club, 

The Society of Arts and Crafts, 

The Italian Club, 

The American Irish Historical Association. 



CHAPTER VI 

" To live in honor, to work with steadfast industry, to endure with 
cheerful patience, is to be victorious." 

"Not in reioards, hut in the strength to strive. 
The blessing lies'' 

— John Townsend Trowbridge. 

"Who would not die in the fire. 
With his soul purged clear for his God, 
Than to live with his soul, in the mire. 
And to rot, icithout soul, in the sod?'' 

— James Mahoney. 



" Strong grows the oak in the sweeping storm; 
Safely the flower sleeps under the snow; 
And the farmer's hearth is never warm 
Till the cold wind starts to blow." 

"Day will return with a fresher boon; 
God will remember the world! 
Night will come with a newer moon; 
God will remember the world!" 

— J. G. Holland. 

Teacher of History, 1888-1907 

James Mahoney went to the Boston English High School as sub- 
stitute teacher, September 5, 1888, and he resigned on April 1, 1907, 
with the grade of master. The fidelity of his service it would be 
impossible not to recognize, for he played a useful part in the training 
of thousands who are of the bone and sinew of the city. A career 
which is a constant application of deeply grounded principles has 
charm, — "It represents a successful experiment in the great art of 
life." It was in his diligence on lines marked out for himself and in 
the regard won from so many of his pupils that Mahoney found 
compensation when the burdensome years seemed more than he 
could carry. 

The auspices were nothing if not favorable when he entered upon 
his work in Boston. He was twenty-six, and with that combination 
of courage and vision that will take a man over life's rough places. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 119 

The three years of teaching in the Worcester High School he had 
regarded only as preparation, and, with forethought unusual in young 
men already settled in a vocation, he had devoted a year to graduate 
study at Johns Hopkins. A wiser move could hardly have been made. 
He had come into direct contact with a brilliant group of instructors. 
In history, in political science, and in jurisprudence he had had the 
advantage of schooling under the careful direction of Herbert B. 
Adams, of Richard T. Ely, and of Woodrow Wilson. And the 
opportunity had been faithfully improved. English High had 
gained a competent, purposeful teacher, and to those who knew him 
there can be no doubt of his pleasure over the appointment. As 
a free public school it had good rank. Boys came from all parts 
of the rapidly growing city, usually from the more enterprising 
families. It met the need of the large class between the poor or the 
indifferent and those who sent their youth to paid schools. English 
High was conducted primarily for boys who were going directly into 
business employment or who would enter the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology at the end of the third year and not undertake prepa- 
ration for college. The proportion going to Harvard was small, and 
any fitting in the classics was for that reason confined to individual 
cases, and usually in the fourth year. At the Boston Latin School, 
in another wing of the same building, there was more emphasis on 
college entrance, and English High was free to follow the excellent 
aim of those who established it in 1821. A school, then, where boys 
of fifteen to eighteen were given sound training for ordinary pursuits 
was James Mahoney's broadening opportunity. His use of his talent 
and wherein he was distinguished above other men in the same 
calling it is my object to point out. 

I was not personally in touch with Mahoney during the first years 
of his service in Boston, but he could not have changed greatly from 
twenty-six to thirty -one, and my boyish impression in 1893 was dis- 
tinctly of a forceful, alert instructor, whose habits had become fixed, 
and whose thought was seasoned. At the beginning of the fall term, 
perhaps on the day following registration, it was customary to 
assemble the boys in the exhibition hall and assign them their rooms. 
I was among those sent to Room 3 in charge of Mahoney. He called 
our names, scanning each face as he read the cards, he carried out 
the petty details of issuing books and supplies, he assigned a lesson, 
he gave us friendly counsel at dismissal, — throughout we observed 
that quiet determination and abrupt address that were blended 
in a manner so peculiarly his own. We measured our man as fifteen- 
year olds will, and there was no encouragement for cutting loose 
while he was in the chair. On the other hand we knew instinctively 
there had to be prompt compliance with his directions, or a clash 
with authority. Years before, in his application for a Boston 



120 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

position, Mahoney had stated that his lameness, in his opinion, did 
not interfere with his teaching. He was right. As I look back upon 
the year I was in his room it is not his lameness I think of first. True, 
we noticed his slow progress up the stairs or along the corridor, but 
there was no sign of weariness about it. Clearly he would have been 
a splendid physical specimen but for the accident of boyhood, and 
such vigor did he show and such respect did he instil that I do not 
recall a single occasion when a room in his charge was not under 
excellent control. Although a man of positive views on politics and 
with a definite religious creed he was scrupulously careful not to 
impose opinions on his pupils. I remember I felt a certain mystery 
about what his opinions were, and I suppose the very fact they were 
not disclosed attracted me and gave this rugged teacher of history a 
part of his charm.* He would throw out suggestions and then drive 
us to the wall with his searching questions, but at the end it was Greek 
or Roman history we were considering and guess as we might we could 
not discover his personal bias toward Mr. Cleveland, Mr. Altgeld, or 
"General" Coxey; neither could we elicit his views of the Know- 
nothingism of the day; but we had only to ask exactly why it was men 
tired of hearing Aristides called the Just and we got a clear-cut answer, 
in detail, straight to the point. 

Years afterward, in one of the reports he prepared for the Federal 
Bureau of Education (1914), Mahoney re-stated some of the peda- 
gogical beliefs that were frequently impressed upon us in the class- 
room. He emphasized the value of personality. "The vital prin- 
ciple of the Republic" was his phrase; and how he made it glow! 
In youth there must be encouraged "individual power of self-support, 
self-reliance, self-control," and habitual working together for the 
common welfare. "Are teachers skilled," he asked, "in culture of 
adolescent talent, through insight, sympathy, kindness, and affection ?" 
And James Mahoney faithfully carried out his tenets just so far as 
opportunity and the limitations of his pupils would permit. Like 

* Apropos of this characteristic of withholding opinions, except on a proper 
occasion, the following extract from a composition by Mahoney, when a pupil in the 
North Brookfield High School, indicates that it was not merely taciturnity, but a 
deliberately chosen rule of life : 

"In all your intercourse and communication with men, friends and foes alike, be 
thoroughly, wholly and originally yourself. Draw back within yourself; sink down 
deep into yourself. This is not hypocrisy, it is self-control. 

"Do not expose the tender emotions of your heart, what you love and cherish, to the 
rough storms of existence, to the winds of opinion, to jeers and sneers, thus losing the 
respect of others, and your own also. 

"In a country like yours there will be of necessity much tearing down of old land- 
marks; much changing of opinions; many conflicts of ideas. But I entreat you to 
remain firm amidst it all. It is in the struggle between great minds that a man of little 
self shows his true colors in taking advantage of it by having no opinion at all upon it." 

Nellie M. Mahoney. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 121 

Jowett of Balliol he was out to strengthen their mental fibre, — "the 
chief thing is the desire to work." 

I wish I were able to pay the tribute Mahoney deserved for his work 
as teacher. I should like to describe him as he revealed himself to 
his pupils, but it would take a facile pen suitably to convey to others 
the qualities that lifted him out of the commonplace. He was stim- 
ulating in the best sense, genuinely interested in boys and their 
possibilities, and I can remember many instances where this quality 
was vividly brought out. By the ordering of the school in those 
years his scope was confined to Greek and Roman history for the two 
hundred fifty or more boys in the Third (or First Year) Class, includ- 
ing the forty assigned to his particular charge. German was listed 
as one of Mahoney's other subjects, but little or no opportunity for 
it was given. History was his subject; in his application for a posi- 
tion in the Boston schools he had chosen history and historical 
geography as his "elective," and after doing "the hard general drudg- 
ery" which was regularly required of the newer members of the 
teaching corps, it was Ancient History that was granted him. 

For the First Year Class there was but one text-book,^ — P. V. N. 
Myers's A General History. To most of us it seemed needless to 
carry a book three inches thick when only two hundred out of the 
seven hundred fifty pages were covered in the year's instruction, but 
however that may have been, somebody wiser, or more interested, 
than we, had decreed that Myers's should be the sole general history 
text -book for the entire school. A teacher in the Third Year Class 
went so far as to tell his pupils to put the book in the far corner of their 
desks and not take it out until the end of the year. Mahoney had 
no admiration for the book, but it was prescribed and furnished by 
the authorities, and he had a conscience about the duty owed the 
public and the public representatives. He used the book, believing 
it to be a good enough skeleton around which to drape the fabric of 
Greek or Roman history, A given number of Myers's topics was pre- 
scribed, and on that basis we recited, in the first instance. Very 
soon, however, there were intimations as to the amount of inde- 
pendent work that would be acceptable. We were directed to use 
maps and we had class drill in geography. No pupil was ever allowed 
to slide over a pronunciation; he was required to say and say again 
imtil his rendering was satisfactory. And for a failure in recitation 
there followed swiftly an irksome penalty, — five copies of Myers's 
remarks on the topic. Who could forget a lesson thus re-assigned.'' 
Or, after such drill, who could mispronounce Achaia or Boeotia? 
But that was by no means all. We were asked to bring in reports of 
our reading, and on the points raised there was general discussion. 
And now and agajn on a fortnight's notice there were short debates, — 
say on the merits of the Athenian constitution. I recall such a 



122 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

debate on the motives of Decius Brutus, and whether Shakespeare 
had done him justice. Mahoney was always eager to set us 
forward, to rouse in us a scholarly interest. Ploetz's Epitome, 
Creasy's Decisive Battles, Freeman's Historical Geography of Europe, 
and other manuals — his own property by the way— were on his 
desk and open to all. In study hours we were encouraged to draw 
upon the reference library, provided our previous carriage had en- 
titled us to such consideration ! What a treat it was to take down one 
at a time the stately volumes of Lavisse et Rambaud ! Or at another 
time to be invited to the desk to read an account of the battle of 
Zama in French! Mahoney interested himself in each individual 
boy, gleaned from him in casual but amiable conversation not alone 
his racial extraction, but his ambitions and attitude toward further 
schooling. A characteristic bit came out in one of his controversies, 
and here I let him speak for himself. 

. . . I do not wish to be restricted to an arbitrary limit. If, for instance, 
John Bartholomew Devitt cannot understand Greek art, but does have some con- 
ception of what a battle means, shall I leave out a good account of the battle 
of Marathon, and give John a description of a fragment of sculpture by Praxiteles? 
We have had a very hard time with John, and it is a very important question for 
him, and it lies at the basis of my conception of history work, namely : to study 
the individual boys with the greatest possible care and find out what it is that will 
arouse their interests and their minds; to go as fast as the particular set of boys 
that I am dealing with can go with profit, and no faster. Mr. X said, " Don't you 
think that the divisions are near enough alike to have them all cover the same 
amount of ground?" I replied, "Mr. X, I say to myself , when I think that two 
boys, even, are near enough alike to cover the same amount of ground, that I 
don't understand the boys." 

A boy who shyly admitted he was receiving parts of the Congres- 
sional Record Mahoney would invite to pursue some interesting 
subject his reading had brought out and perhaps prepare a written exer- 
cise for the benefit of the class. Once it was to compare the agrarian 
policies of Spurius Cassius with our American homestead law. And 
he would lose no opportunity to emphasize the value of an active 
interest in current politics. It was the traditional attitude of the 
teachers to regard the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the 
Boston Public Library as the two institutions supplementary to 
English High, and so far as the Library was concerned the tradition 
suffered not at all in Mahoney's keeping. At one of the early meet- 
ings of the New England History Teachers Association, the subject 
of discussion being "Text-Books and Methods of Teaching History," 
Mahoney seems to have used some plain language. 

After a number of addresses had been made on the subject by prominent 
members of the association, I asked for leave to say a word, and declared that in 
my opinion a teacher who had not mastered his subject and was not familiar with 
all the methods of teaching it, and who was not capable, when placed face to face 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 123 

with a concrete boy, with his special needs and difficulties, who was not capable 
then of casting his methods to the winds, and helping that boy where he needed 
help, was not fit to teach the subject; and as for text-books, why was it necessary 
to bind the souls of teachers with them? If we had overcome tyrants in other 
things, why was it necessary to fall down and worship the Text Book? 

Elsewhere in his papers, Mahoney left the statement that he had 
always been devoted to his pupils and to his studies, and that he 
gave all his time to his work. I believe that to be as nearly the literal 
truth as in the case of any teacher I ever knew. His pupils, his school, 
were to him both wife and child those earlier years of his service; his 
heart and his enthusiasm were engrossed in his daily employment. 
That I am obliged to set a limit in point of time to this refreshing 
period will presently appear, later in the chapter, and I shall be par- 
doned, I am sure, for choosing to dwell a bit longer on the first six or 
seven years, a time not only encouraging to Mahoney himself, but a 
time when in considerable measure his efforts were unfettered. 

His lameness I have already said was lost sight of once he took 
charge of the class-room, and it only increased our respect for his 
virile qualities. The boys quickly noted the ease with which he 
would pull himself up a high step, as on boarding a street car, and 
there were tales of wonderful feats he had performed with weights. 
I do not know whether these accounts were more than boyish gossip, 
but in years since I have seen him manage a refractory horse, and 
there is no end of testimony to his great physical endurance. Holmes 
Field, in Cambridge, or even Newton Centre, was not too far for him 
to go to see a twenty -minute game where some of "my boys" were 
playing good football. He was particularly constant at track meet- 
ings. In those days Tom Burke, as an E. H. S. boy, was doing the 
600-yard dash in 1 m. 20 2/5s. and "Mike" O'Brien, another of 
Mahoney's pupils, was able to put the 16 lb. shot 38 ft. 2 in. In all 
such exploits Mahoney took the keenest enjoyment, although there 
was never any undue reference in the class-room. 

In fact, pandering of any sort was entirely out of keeping with 
Mahoney's ideals of teaching. There was plenty of cheap badinage 
in some quarters, but none of it came from him. Being at school was 
important business, and we were usually mindful of the hour. The 
hapless boy who sought to try him out soon got his due. "Twelve 
copies of the general rules, sir, by nine o'clock on Monday!" And 
the first laborious copy had to be made standing, for the rules were 
posted inside the glass door of the book-case! No slipshod copies 

were acceptable. "Come, M , get a shovel, will you? and clean 

up this paper." By other teachers on the staff this practice on 
Mahoney's part was made much of, the waste of ink, and so on, — 
mcii who were themselves apt to be prodigal with the city's time, — 
but could any one dispute the disciplinary value of Mahoney's pet 
corrective? 



124 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

He was also patient, and scrupulous about holding up to ridicule 
the dull and stupid who always seep in for the entering class. " Brace 

up, S ," he would say brusquely but with good humor, "you don't 

want that good mother of yours deciding you'd better be improving 

your time on a tip-cart," and usually S braced. "Mahoney was 

always square and a gentleman," was an expression I have heard 
countless times from men who were his pupils. Once I sought to 
question a mark he had given for two months' work in history. With 
not a sign of annoyance he got out his records, asked me to take down 
the entry for each oral and written exercise, and suggested that I 
average them according to the weight to be given each and announce 
the result. It of course coincided with my bi-monthly mark, and 
there was no room for argument. A man in a public school who can 
leave the impression of scrupulous fairness is a successful teacher. 

And Mahoney was never tolerant of indecency. One instance is 
enough for illustration. A sheet of vulgar doggerel had been passed 
from hand to hand until some over-shifty culprit had drawn the fire 
of Mahoney's vigilant eye. The offending "poetry" was promptly 
corralled, likewise the boy responsible, and I shall never forget the 
blaze of indignation and the torrent of scornful, short-syllabled words 
that poured from Mahoney's lips that morning. I can almost feel 
the tingling of that tongue-lashing, and I suppose the easy-going 
chap upon whom the vials of wrath were chiefly visited will never 
outlive the pre-eminence of that vmforgettable day. 

As to military drill there comes to mind only one pronounced 
reference by Mahoney while I was still a pupil. The drill held a 
prominent place in the school, and the annual scramble for offices 
was the be-all and end-all of a school career in more ways than one. 
It was customary for the boys of the Third Year Class themselves to 
do the voting. This election was then laid before a teachers' meeting, 
the head-master having the last word. The instance I recall was when 
a disappointed youth went to Mahoney to pay his respects. A short- 
sighted teacher, possibly making a confession in avoidance, had told 
the boy that Mahoney had been unfavorable. I can see the latter 
now as he faced his venturesome critic. "I did argue against you, 
because your record does not entitle you to the office. Do you want 
me to state my reasons fully?" The boy was quickly in a panic; he 
saw the grins on forty faces, and made a hurried exit. 

Let us hear a little more of Mahoney's ideas of drill appointments. 
It was a sore subject with many, both teachers and pupils. There was 
much unfairness and a lot more trafficking and wire-pulling than was 
good for the school. As usual, Mahoney's ideas were crystallized. 
Among his papers is a memorandum, apparently written for a 
teachers' meeting. It shows his mental habit, and it must have been 
hard to combat. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 125 

The chief reason for having military drill in the school is to give physical train- 
ing. Hence the boys who can cause the best drilling should be appointed as 
oflBcers, as far as this can be done without injury to the school. This furnishes a 
clear principle of selection, and the exceptions to it are distinctly indicated. Of 
course it would be of injury to the school, if boys of (a) bad conduct or (b) of low 
scholarship should be appointed to conspicuous positions. The department of 
'physical instruction, while it is a separate department with its own standards is 
still a department of the school. For that reason the tests of (a) scholarship) and 
(b) deportment should be negative tests i. e. limits should be assigned and boys 
below these limits would be disqualified. E. g. (a) below 75 % in scholarship 
(b) found guilty of serious misconduct by any teacher. But it would be neces- 
sary to have positive tests for the actual appointments. For this the standard 
should be capacity to command. Here a record of highest scholarship is even more 
irrelevant than mushroom popularity. Each teacher should give his estimate of 
each candidate's capacity, for the office in question, in the form of a mark. The 
boys having the highest average should then pass a military examination. If 
desirous to preserve the principal of election the officer could then be elected from 
the two or three highest on the list. The electors should as far as possible be, not 
from the candidates class, only, but from the company, division etc. commanded. 

N. B. A gymnasium and general athletic record should be kept and consulted 
by the teachers in giving their estimate of the boys' capacity. This would also 
be a general encouragement to athletic education. 

Looking back more than twenty years one's judgments of a 
teacher are apt to be softened, I know, but in conscience I cannot 
recall a single unfavorable impression. My acquaintance with men 
teachers was then very limited. I liked history and I enjoyed reading; 
I am aware there were those who did not enjoy either to the same 
degree. Unquestionably our boyish impressions were influenced some- 
what by our liking for the subjects taught. It must be allowed, I 
think, that Mahoney 's standards were unusual ; even the head-master 
who was his most bitter critic felt obliged to concede to the author- 
ities over his own signature that Mahoney was among the most 
scholarly and best informed teachers in the service, and that his 
"methods,"* though original, achieved good results. f I suppose that 
no two preferences of his brought down upon his head such caustic 
comment as the pronunciation of his family name and his insistence 
upon frequent airing of the class-room. Yet he persisted in both with 
a serenity that was peculiarly baffling to those who took issue with 
him, and he carried his point, in both. It is not clear to me that so 
much energy and vitality should have been expended upon issues of 
that degree, but to Mahoney they were as supreme as truth itself. 
He would have gone to the stake rather than be recreant to his 
father's name, or bow to the little tyrants of the corridor. 

*Many "methods" like his "originals" are found in the most approved text-books of 
the present day. 

fSee following this article. 

Note: This matter of ventilation is not at all the trifling thing it appears to be. 
The controversy described was in what some modern educators would call the benighted 



126 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

It is not to be imagined that a teacher endowed with such positive 
views of right and wrong, of the decent and proper thing, will be 
admired or even equitably judged by all his associates. Yet we have 
it on ample evidence that Mahoney enjoyed friendly relations with 
all the teachers in the school up to the spring of 1895. In one place 
in his papers he does refer to a possible exception, but in his own 
phrase seven years was a period certainly long enough to test all his 
qualities. It is a remarkable story, — Mahoney 's persevering struggle 
to hold his position through nearly twelve years of bitter personal con- 
troversy. The record of those years is exceedingly hard to summarize. 
One feels constrained to tell all or none; and I am aware of the gate 
I am opening when I pass comment on conditions in the English High 
School during that period. My errand is biographic, however, and 
I have no apology for desiring to keep alive the memory of a kindly, 
forceful, and conscientious teacher, a man whose character and service 
were in a decisive way distinguishable from others whose grooves 
were along parallel lines. 

Of what might be called "school politics" English High seems 
always to have been full. Once on the staff of instruction it was usual 
for teachers to spend nearly all, if not all, of their active years in its 
routine. The ambition of each was centered in promotion, and when 
to this is added the circumstance that the controlling authority is in 
"the people" as expressed in the election annually of members of 
the school committee, it can readily be seen the possibilities were 
large. Many of the innumerable skirmishes were fought over the 
succession to the head-mastership, and although time is said to heal 
all woimds it has never had any apparent solace for some of the men 
who failed to reach the pinnacle, unless it was the sweet privilege of 
harboring resentment. One who knows the school can get some 
vivid impressions merely by scanning the list of instructors, — say for 

age in pedagogy; when ventilation was really regarded as hardly worth a serious teach- 
er's attention. Nowadays, what Mahoney so stubbornly insisted upon has become the 
required rule for all. Mahoney was decidedly ahead of his time in 1895, in regarding 
pure air as essential to good teaching. Moreover he had attended to this ventilating 
matter without arousing anyone's comment for a long time and took a great deal of 
pains with it. He left old records, most carefully kept, of the temperature of the class- 
room; all at a time when it was not only not required, but was hardly thought of by 
teachers. 

He even caused chemical tests to be made of the air of his class-room by Institute of 
Technology experts. To-day there is perhaps no one subject more carefully considered 
than ventilation; usually provided for by the architects of the new school buildings, not 
as incidental to mere comfort, but as a vital need in education, which is the point 
insisted upon by James Mahoney in those old days. 

Who can say that the present development is not the natural result of his efforts and 
so was it not worth while for him to endure all that he did to have the health of all 
safeguarded? 

Nellie M. Mahoney. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 127 

the fifty years from 1865 to 1915. As head-master Mr, Cumston 
succeeded Mr. Sherwin; Mr. Edwin P. Seaver followed Mr. Cumston. 
When Mr. Seaver resigned it was to become superintendent of public 
schools all over the city, and at once the promotion pot boiled. 
Little fires flared up, and as a result, in a word, an "outsider" in 
the person of Mr. Francis A. Waterhouse was given the position. 
This was in 1880, the year Mahoney was graduating from the 
Brookfield High School, eight years before he took up his work in 
English High. Mr. Waterhouse took charge, personal charge; and 
with a grotesqueness that I am tempted to call Lilliputian, the sore 
and the disappointed nursed their grievances and bided their time. 
It was as if, when they met in the corridor, they accused each other, 
''You kept me from being head-master!" If there seemed any 
chance of the feud dying down, some new arrival by taking sides 
would fan the blaze. Meanwhile Mr. Waterhouse ran the school, 
made his own assignments of the teachers under him, and framed his 
own schedule of hours, according as seemed to him wise and for the 
good interest of the school. 

It is worth noticing that during this regime Mahoney had no 
"difficulty" with his associates. In fact, the first "incident" he 
could recall was the hurried petition when it was learned Mr. Water- 
house was to have leave of absence. The enterprising group who 
thought so much was at stake wanted to name the master who to 
their minds should be first in line for promotion. Mahoney had high 
regard for Mr. Waterhouse, and took exception not only to the fever- 
ish haste of the round-robin but to the propriety of it. It was in 
line, however, with a sustained effort, as Mahoney thought, to under- 
mine the influence of the head-master. Years before, when Mahoney 
entered the school, a supervisor who was afterwards superintendent 
had cautioned him to be wary. And one of the senior instructors 
had volunteered, "Do what you think is right, and every hand will be 
against you," — this with a Bismarckian gesture! Mahoney was 
destined to learn the full bearing of so weighty a pronouncement as 
applied in English High. 

Into the merits of all the differences that arose we must not go, but 
Mahoney's account of one of them is enlightening. 

[Dated January 27, 1906.] 
Soon after I entered the school, the little group of men (above referred to) 
formed a dining club, open to all the male teachers in the high schools of the city 
with the exception of the Head Masters. However, but few teachers save those 
of the English High School, attended these dinners; and, in the main, from the 
High School the men who regularly came were the more intimate friends of Messrs. 
X — , Y — , and Z — . At these gatherings, slurs and attacks upon Mr. Waterhouse 
were very frequent. The belief was gradually formed in my mind that that dining 
club was intended as a means of attacking Mr. Waterhouse, and all the facts that 
I have since learned have confirmed that impression. . . . 



128 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

At one of the dinners Mr. Z — sat next to me, and introduced the subject of 
anarchy and anarchists. He asked my opinion about the justice of executing 
Chicago anarchists, who had just been convicted of throwing bombs. I told him 
that in my opinion the anarchists richly deserved their punishment. This state- 
ment of mine brought a strong protest from Z — . He told me that he was an 
anarchist, and gave me to understand that my opinion on the subject was due to 
ignorance of what anarchy meant. This statement led to a long series of argu- 
ments with Mr. Z — , and then with his two most intimate friends, Mr. Y — and 
Mr. X — , both of whom sided with Mr. Z— . 

Our arguments were finally reduced to writing, and both Mr. Y — and Mr. Z — , 
who took up the argument in this way, were obliged to abandon their positions : but 
claimed that I had won my victory by hairsplitting with regard to definitions. 
They still persisted in continuing the oral argmnents. At length, I became heartily 
tired of the subject, and of always meeting the same arguments. I gave Mr. Z — 
to understand as much, not in the way of a quarrel but in a single pointed state- 
ment that I didn't care to discuss the matter. In addition to my feeling on the 
subject, my judgment was that the discussion was getting altogether too prominent 
as it was being carried on during school hours; and even some of the pupils had 
begun to get hold of certain anarchistic books and papers which Mr. Z — had been 
responsible for getting into the school building. 

[Briefly there was an altercation over Mahoney's refusal to receive the litera- 
ture. Mahoney was completely surprised by Z — 's attack.] 

. . . I had always found Mr. Z — gentle in his manners, and I regarded him as 
perfectly sincere in advocating the doctrines of anarchy, although I considered 
him something of a fanatic. I had become fond of him personally, and when he 
attacked me, I was more surprised than angry. I tried to reason with him for a 
moment, but his insults quickly stopped me. . . . 

It is never pleasant to include details like these, nor is it agreeable 
to bring in the unfavorable traits of some of Mahoney's associates, 
but there seems no alternative if his hard experience is to be told 
with due regard for things as they were. So we continue. A further 
"incident" was one which comes within my own recollection. For 
a time [in 1895] there was a small publication issued by certain of the 
Fourth Year boys and called The Advance. It was designed to be 
more readable than the E. H. S. Record and rather made a point of 
being facetious. The jokesmiths went pretty far on more occasions 
than one, and it was impossible not to think some of the quips in- 
spired. They were at least a commentary on the jovial relations of 
teachers and pupils in the Advanced Class. It was inevitable under 
such circumstances that there should be a play upon Mahoney's 
name. I remember distinctly the hum of excitement the day this came 
out. All of us were kept in our rooms until every copy of that edi- 
tion of The Advance had been surrendered, later to be thrown under 
the boUer. The only day to be compared with that was when a 
master vehemently objected to "Casey at the Bat," for purposes of 
public declamation. Some of the teachers seem to have thought 
themselves very waggish. 

Good reason had Mahoney for regarding the subsequent years as 
passed "under the most trying circumstances." The year [1895- 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 129 

1896] at the University of Berlin, on leave by permission of the 
Boston School Committee, was a welcome respite, but once he 
returned the fray was on with redoubled energy. Not only in his 
own room were Mahoney's ideas of proper ventilation interfered with, 
but X — , Y — , and Z — with their associates would casually hold 
meetings just outside Mahoney's door, taking pains to slam down his 
corridor windows, and express opinions loud enough for pupils to hear. 
His marks, and in certain cases his recommendations of pupils for pro- 
motion, were arbitrarily overruled. Other history teachers were 
given precedence as to choice of work or hours or grade of pupils, 
even though their rank was junior to his. I am not prepared to say 
that on every occasion Mahoney's view should have been adopted — 
the responsibility for conducting the school was upon other shoul- 
ders — but I do assert that Mahoney was always ready with a reason 
for the view he took, and that from instances that came to my notice 
it grew into a habit to deal with his advice in ways that were unnec- 
essarily crude, ill-intentioned. In a word, the procedure was too often 
calculated to give the maximum affront to a capable, high-minded 
teacher. Mahoney's capacity had been certified as had the capacity 
of others; he was there imder the appointment of the School Com- 
mittee and not of any man in the school, and we must agree it was 
proper for him to resent any invasion of his rights as an instructing 
officer. I have gone over his papers, I talked with most of the other 
teachers while the cauldron was bubbling, and Mahoney's judgment of 
what was going on I am bound to say was extremely accurate. In 
1900 he told me that among the "junto," the "inside group,"a definite 
succession to the head-mastership had been agreed upon. It may be 
a coincidence, but certainly it is a fact, that that "succession" has been 
carried out ! " It was very clear now that the school was being turned 
into a perpetual caucus, that a rush-line was being formed, and men 
were being whipped into line." Mahoney felt he was none too severe. 

The effort to super-organize the school by delegating supervisory 
functions to certain teachers and not to others was particularly 
repugnant. The duties of head-master were not so exacting that any 
division of responsibility was either necessary or desirable, and in 
due course there was a superintendent who upheld that view, — "Deans 
of Classes" and other superfluous designations were peremptorily 
discontinued. 

But if there was one practice above another that Mahoney abom- 
inated, it was active soliciting by text-book salesmen, often during 
school hours. He consistently refused to write text-books on the 
ground that it was improper for an instructor in the school system to 
use his personal influence to have them purchased by the city. He 
also declined to favor specific books, and he carefully returned quan- 
tities that were sent him, stating that he accepted gifts only from 

10 



130 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

personal friends. Always his eyes would snap and his face grow tense 
when the text-book companies were mentioned. He would not sup- 
port the introduction of a certain manual on Greek history, partly be- 
cause he considered the book poorly adapted for high schools but 
chiefly because he wanted first the wall-maps, atlases, translations of 
authorities, etc., all of which had been promised but never received. 
Nevertheless this particular book was introduced and much of 
Mahoney's history work was assigned other teachers. Mahoney felt 
the weight of the school program being steadily exerted to his dis- 
advantage. 

. . . All my work with the upper classes was first taken away [for 
some years German appeared as one of his subjects] ; then my divisions in history 
were taken away one after another, imtil but one now remains; and Enghsh with 
the entering class was substituted. In these English divisions, new directions 
were now given for an unusual amount of written work and correction of the same. 
A person who is not accustomed to high school teaching wUl fail to realize just 
what this means, both in the difficulty of maintaining discipline and of imparting 
instruction. One hour of work in the entering class takes at least twice as much 
from a man's vital energy as a like period in the upper classes — not to mention the 
added dignity of teaching in the upper grades of the school ; and the satisfaction 
that a teacher finds in following his pupils in their growth. 

For all this manoeuvering there had to be a climax. In 1899-1900 
there were charges of insubordination against Mahoney. And the 
large item in the bill of particulars was that old misdemeanor, the 
too frequent ventUation of his room! After years of a watchfulness 
that was feline, after conferring that was constant, and in possession 
of every shred of information that could possibly have a bearing, this 
camarilla of intrepid men fixed upon ventilation as the capital sin. 
Mahoney said he was never permitted to know what was being laid 
against him, but the cabal went in a body with their sore thumbs. 
As each came from the committee room he conferred with those in 
waiting, and frequent were the expressions of elation at the progress 
being made. The committee, however, did not agree with the com- 
plainants, and the charges were dismissed without being referred to 
the full board. Members of the committee stated afterwards the 
strong impression made upon them by Mr. Ellis Peterson, long the 
supervisor in charge of English High. He took a part in the hearing 
and paid Mahoney a strong compliment; he considered him, he said, 
one of the ablest teachers of history he had known. Mr. Peterson 
was one of the most punctilious of gentlemen, with a high regard for 
discipline and for the proper ordering of schools, and not lightly 
would he have raised his voice in defence of a teacher under charges. 

It should be remembered that during all this time the man who 
was superintendent of schools had been a head-master of English 
High; X — had been his colleague, and Mr. Seaver was committed 
to the regime which others besides Mahoney found oppressive and 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 131 

unseemly. By 1900 the Public School Association had been estab- 
lished, at that time a well-intentioned eflFort to "keep the schools out 
of politics," but through a peculiar posture the members of the school 
committee elected on that platform felt it incumbent on them always 
to support the superintendent's nominations. There were several 
school committee members anxious to correct conditions at the school, 
but it can readily be seen how difficult it was to pry off the lid. 

There are other things that might be said, but they are not needed 
in an appreciation of Mahoney's work. His memory can stand the 
omission. The hearing referred to was in 1899, but for nearly eight 
years more Mahoney stayed in the school, not because the atmosphere 
was congenial, but as a matter of principle and to testify to his firm 
belief that his sacrifices would be recognized and that eventually some 
measure of justice would be done. But there remained other lengths 
to which those hardy citizens would go. Mahoney had beaten them on 
ground of their own choosing. His hate for a lie, his scorn for what 
was indirect and sinuous, his reliance not upon political friends but 
upon his own character, — these did not make his presence, for them, 
either a comfort or a mantle of light. No effort was spared to get him 
out of the school. Whether teachers were friendly to him or lent 
themselves to mean annoyances seemed the test of preferment at the 
head-master's office. One can imagine the state of things. 

I leave out the janitor, his salary, and his reputed political conse- 
quence. His position was unique; it would not have been tolerated 
in any other institution. But I pass him by, lest the record seem 
unbelievable. In desiring to commemorate Mahoney's services to 
English High we need deal only with men who were his colleagues, 
men whose calling should have forbidden the little low ways of human 
cheapness, — should have saved them from "the mongrel heel-snap- 
ping breed of injustice." But with a few last sentences from Ma- 
honey's statement of 1906 I must cut short what bids fair to become 
a volume, and not a chapter. 

During all these years, at every hour of the day, I have always been found 
absolutely attending to the duties of my position ; always with my pupils and mind- 
ing my own affairs. When orders came to me from the Head Master or from other 
sources of authority, I have instantly and to the best of my ability obeyed them. 
Attacks upon me I have simply turned aside in the way of self-defense, and I 
believe I am absolutely correct in saying that more than this I have not done. 

. , . Personal insults, vicious and wholly unprovoked, have come to me 
from this set of men, . , , These insults have been of the grossest kind, and 
are almost past belief. . . . 

Having failed to force me out of the school, these men endeavor to resist in every 
possible way my honorable promotion from it. I desire to call especial attention 
to this fact and also to declare that even my patience must finally have a limit. 

That was in January, 1906. In 1904 Mahoney had been a candi- 
date for supervisor. He was not successful, but neither was Y — who 



132 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

had made a strong bid for the place, backed by the unqualified sup- 
port of X — •. In 1906 Mahoney made another effort for promotion to 
the same office. Seven of his colleagues joined in the indorsement, and 
Mr. Peterson added his precisely worded approval: "I carefully ob- 
served your work as a teacher of history in the English High School, 
and am glad to write that in aim, method, and result it was, in my 
opinion. Excellent." Mr. William H. Partridge, from 1872 treasurer 
of the English High School Association, wrote of his relations with 
Mahoney on the Board of Government. "I learned to respect his 
ability, erudition, judicial temperament, and universal urbanity of 
manner. . . . The expression of his convictions while firm was 
always gentle and kindly. I should consider him a valuable acquisi- 
tion to the Board of Supervisors in these days when so many edu- 
cators are tempted to manceuver for position rather than eminence 
in their profession." And in a sheaf of letters written by former 
pupils there is one from Professor C. E. A. Winslow, paying grace- 
ful tribute to "an old teacher of mine." "I know nothing about 
any special issues which may be involved but I am sure the 
enthusiasm and strength of Mr. Mahoney's teaching instinct could 
hardly fail to be helpful. I went from the E. H. S. to Technology 
where I studied and am now teaching, but I remember few contacts 
in my whole educational career more inspiring than that with him." 
Several members of the school committee in 1904 were equally 
strong in their support, but thirteen was still the necessary majority. 

Mahoney longed for an honorable release, comparable with the 
preferment that had been given others. He should have had it; of 
that there is no question among unprejudiced observers. With un- 
exampled patience he waited an opening for promotion. At length 
it came, at the South Boston High School, as head of the English 
department. Not until then did he give up his work at English High. 

Five years later, he sought the head-mastership at South Boston. 
The cabal was unrelenting, untiring, and undismayed. The old 
portfolios were opened; the same old grist went into the mill. The 
"charges" were mouldy with age, but dealers in damaged goods 
seldom examine their wares. Promotion was again withheld, but mar- 
vellous to say somebody had at last signalled a retreat. On July 7, 
1913, in a communication to the chairman of the school committee, 
X — signed a recantation; it deserves a name no less imposing. 
"I desire to withdraw the statement which I made before the School 
Committee which referred to Mr. James Mahoney, and wish it 
regarded as never made. ... I have not made any statement 
with the purpose of injuring Mr. Mahoney and in the future I shall 
refrain from making any statement whatever in regard to him." 

Some months ago I saw Y — • on the train, bemoaning the grind he 
was obliged to return to. The other day I saw Z — conducting his 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 133 

classes precisely as he has for a generation. X — is in retirement, not 
easily separated from a place he tried to retain. Mahoney died at the 
end of a pleasant serviceable year on the staff of the United States 
Bureau of Education. I have been tempted to ask X — , Y — , and 
Z — ■ whether on sober reflection the pursuit was worth the candle. 
Perhaps it would be a foolish question, but I should have a curious 
interest in their replies. 

A pupil in the school, I respected Mahoney; as the years went on I 
grew fond of him. I was the recipient of kindly attention which it 
was not open to a youth to reciprocate. But had I not enjoyed his 
friendship I think his work in the English High School would still 
have appealed to a certain commemorative instinct which I acknowl- 
edge I share. If the boys who wrote letters were stimulated as they 
say they were stimulated, then the fruits were ample and our friend's 
life is justly a matter of biographic interest. It is to be hoped this 
account will not be considered merely ex parte praise. The intent 
is to show Mahoney 's singular fidelity to truth, to the highest 
ideals of teaching. Had he been less faithful he could have enjoyed 
a comfortable humdrum good-fellowship sort of existence among his 
teaching associates. "Happily," as Maitland said of Leslie Stephen, 
"there was at least one price that he would not pay for a pleasant 
life." 

G. G. Wolkins, '96. 

Two addresses by James Mahoney at teachers' meetings, given 
below, indicate very well his method in teaching. The first is regard- 
ing the teaching of "The Lady of the Lake," and the second "English 
in the South Boston High school." Also a Topic Syllabus for written 
work. 

He was ever original in educational method and had no special 
reverence for tradition unless it "made good." The appended may 
be described perhaps as a technical paper, being addressed by a 
teacher for teachers' ears only, but is illustrative of how Mahoney 
would help the student toward good English. 

Nellie M. Mahoney 

"I consider that the value of instruction in the 'Lady of the Lake' is to be deter- 
mined in the same way that the value of instruction in any text is to be determined : 
It depends, it seems to me, first on the teacher's insight into the nature of her pupils; 
and, secondly, on her ability and skill in using the text to draw out and strengthen the 
native qualities of the children. Her insight will be measured by her capacity to 
rightly 'size up' the concrete class group before her, to see their mental qualities and 
attainments, emotional, as well as intellectual. In fact, these young people are 
emotional rather than intellectual, and sympathy is the magic quality in the teacher 
that will teach her insight." 



134 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

"Then, the teacher of insight, if she truly loves her author and his work, can inspire 
in her pupils sympathetic interests in the general subject matter of the text. 

"In the case of the 'Lady of the Lake,' pupils quickly take warm interest in the 
mountains, lakes and valleys of the Scotch landscape, and in the romantic history of 
Scotland, as well. 

" When once the pupils really feel a sympathetic personal interest in the author and 
his work, the teacher can go to almost any length with them in the nicer points of 
scholarship. 

" Striving to carry out these thoughts in practice, I have never, I think, taught the 
'Lady of the Lake' in just the same way with any two classes; but my first endeavor 
is to get the students to make out the story and to like it so well that they will then, in a 
review, use as much care as they are capable of in learning somewhat accurately 
the meanings of the more difficult words, phrases, allusions, meters, and the like. In 
this way they will look up with less reluctance difficult words, and strive with some 
intelligence to unravel hard sentences. 

" In accordance with this plan, I generally ask them to strive to explain the intro- 
ductory Spenserian stanzas after reading and reviewing the body of the Canto. 

"When the interest is truly aroused, even young children will quickly master the 
meters and scansion of the poems. If personal interest is not aroused, the ' Lady of the 
Lake' may easily prove a mechanical burden and a source of real injury to pupils. 

"On a real reading of, let us say, the finer passages, interested pupils will show real 
appreciation of the harmony of the lines, and the beauty of the language. For the 
boys, specially, I am convinced that the ' Lady of the Lake' is one of the best gateways 
to the realm of poetry. Most boys, at first, seem to care but little for poetry; and 
to so teach them that they will later voluntarily, and with profit, read a volume of 
poetry is an object worth striving for. 

" I believe that this text is one of the best means to teach pupils how to express 
themselves, for to give an adequate account of one of Scott's descriptions will tax their 
powers — but here again everything depends on the good judgment and enthusiasm of 
the teacher. 

In answer to a question from Miss O'Connor, Mr. Mahoney said 
that it was his plan to get the pupils to tell him the story, rather than 
that he should tell the story to the pupils. In fact, he never intended 
to tell them anything which he could get them to tell him. This was 
the way to draw out their powers. 

Miss Butland inquired how far Mr. Mahoney thought it possible to 
go in the explanation of words and phrases. He answered that he 
thought that a test of the teachers' judgment and insight. If the 
proper interest is aroused, one can go far in that direction, but he 
said that he must admit that classes varied in their capacity. 



James Mahoney, 

Oct. 7, 1907. 

English in the South Boston High School 

It is not my purpose to try to tell the teachers many things which 
they do not know in regard to the English language. It is my hope, 
rather, to remind them of things, which, under the pressure of other 
duties, may be overlooked. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 135 

Specialization has invaded our schools to such an extent that 
there has come of late a just demand for greater co-ordination of work. 
So loud is this demand that there is danger of forgetting that spirit 
which "makes all things work together for good." 

Inasmuch as I trust that that spirit exists in this school, I venture 
to remind you of the fundamental value of our English tongue; and 
to suggest a few practical means by which our mutual efforts will 
benefit all our departments; and so our school. 

But a few years ago it would have seemed presumption to offer a 
defense of the English language. Its importance was taken for 
granted, — just as the knack of using it was taken for granted. All 
other things had to be studied and practiced. Not so, English! 
That came free with the tongue. 

Volapuk is indeed forgotten; but, to-day, the noisy lovers of Esper- 
anto would have us think that English is in the yellow leaf, and with 
all the other old tongues must soon disappear, leaving roots only, for 
a scientific mode of speech. 

Let us not be unkind to Esperanto, for it represents the reform 
tendency in language which does for a language what manicure does 
for the fingers. But our native speech is as truly an organic growth 
as our brain. 

Recall to your minds what our English is. It is the native tongue 
of the mightiest racial element in the universe — the English, Irish, 
Scotch; Kelt and Teuton combined, the strongest, fiercest, subtlest 
of the human race. It is the storage battery of their heart, their 
soul, their intellect and their will power. It holds, as if by magic, all 
the racial attainments, in science, art, government; in love and in 
war. 

But more than that. More than any other tongue, it represents 
human speech. It has drawn into itself, the structure, the contents, 
the genius and energy of all other tongues and peoples. 

For our boys and girls, then, it is the light of their minds and the 
gateway of their souls. Deeper than their breath, it is the very gar- 
ment of their consciousness. By it, they seize upon nature, science, 
history and art. 

True proficiency in language is the true index of mental power. 
The increase of efficiency in science and art and industry bears a 
constant ratio to the increase of eflSciency in language. Here lies 
the common ground of all the departments. 

With this in mind let us examine some of the interacting cogs of 
our educational machinery, with a view to greater eflSciency in our 
boy and girl products. 

All our work is either oral or written. The spoken word is the unit 
in human exchanges; the sentence is the unit of thought in algebra, 
chemistry, biology and dynamics as well as in German or Spanish. 



136 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

The microscope and the acid test make the meaning of the word 
clearer in the mind, and the balance of the sentence more true. 

To put it bluntly, when the teacher of English vitalizes the mean- 
ing of a word in a child's mind, she is directly helping every other 
department. But the word must receive wings so that it may reach 
the ear and all teachers ought to insist on right pronunciation and 
articulation. Joint and constant effort will help to overcome local 
errors, and mumbling speech. And that is something harder and 
more glorious than the Japanese war. 

The sentence in language is more wonderful than the " flower in the 
crannied wall." Sentences form the framework of the temple of 
thought. Whoever helps to build them true as the plumbline, is an 
architect of civilization, and a benefactor of the arts and crafts and 
sciences. 

Sentence structure means grammar, not grammatical red tape, 
but a thorough loiowledge of the parts of human speech with the 
practical art of using them as subject, as predicate and as modifiers, 
that is to say, it is not pedantry, but it is human intelligence in action. 

In insisting on correct sentences we will all bear a common burden 
for a common advantage, to wit — clear thought. 

Language is a means of self-expression, but it would be a poor thing 
if it meant only our self-expression to others, and not also the self- 
expression of others, of the race, of mankind for us. Herein lies the 
value of wisely directed supplementary reading. 

The teachers of English are making lists of books for supplementary 
reading. I invite the teachers of the other departments to suggest 
books, which, while not rated as English classics, would be valuable 
for general reading. Some boy's soul may be saved thereby. 

Writing seems necessary for civilization — therefore the boy and 
girl, however unwilling, must have it. All the departments have it. 
I wish to call attention to the greater efficiency we may obtain if we 
all insist upon certain points, wherein agreement is permissible. 

Written work is generally the bugbear of both teacher and pupil. 
It is apt to worry the pupil. It often saps the vitality of the teacher; 
and where is the corresponding benefit? A faithful teacher spends 
fifteen or twenty minutes making comments in red upon an essay 
which violates all the laws and canons. 

With a class of thirty-six pupils that means nine or ten hours of 
the hardest drudgery. With five such classes in a week it means 
forty-five or fifty hours of such work, for one such written exercise 
per week from each pupil. This is the same as saying that something 
like eight hours a day every day in the week, including Saturday, are 
spent on that brain killing, soul killing, teacher killing job. 

And the pathos of it consists in this that it is the finest and most 
conscientious teacher who comes nearest to killing herself in doing 
just that thing. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 137 

For years I have wrestled with this subject of correction of written 
work, and I consider it the teacher's bad angel. I have reached the 
conclusion that very much of that effort is wasted, and is due to a 
misconception of our duty in the matter. 

Why! Fifteen minutes are entirely inadequate to properly criti- 
cize that paper! It would take a special volume to do justice to it. 
And the boy would not read the volume; most likely he wouldn't 
profit by it if he did read it ; and the chances are that he will not read 
the crimson criticisms, although hovering betwixt respect and fear 
on the one hand and disdain on the other, he may compromise by a 
hasty glance! 

I am very confident that more may be accomplished by teaching 
the pupil the elements of criticism, requiring him to apply them to his 
own work, and marking him upon the skill with which he does it. 
In this simple system of abbreviation and reference will be time saving 
machinery for pupil as well as for teacher. 

Let me illustrate my meaning by reference to my own usage. 
(Forms for written work were here distributed.) 

The essentials of grammar and rhetoric I have condensed here 
under twelve heads. Well nigh every criticism that can be directed 
against written work will come under one of these heads, which I 
term standards of criticism. Let me take them in their order: 

1, indicates neatness and form. 

Note: The notes from which this paper was copied had become obliterated in 
places, so that it may well be that the writer's meaning has not been brought forth in 
these few places. 

It is evident that neatness and form are matters of convention, 
and are somewhat arbitrary in their nature; but it is also self-evident 
that if some particular standard of neatness and good form is insisted 
upon by all teachers much better results will be obtained than if each 
teacher has a different standard and requirement. Immediate im- 
provement will result if the teachers will return immediately to the 
pupil, without credit, every paper which grossly violates the standard: 
With regard to standard No. 1, note of attention to paper, which 
shoiild be smooth, uniform size, clean, straight edge. With regard 
to personal data, their position, name; home-room, date; whether in 
or out of class, etc. 

If some such requirements are not made — the appearance is re- 
pulsive and tends toward slovenly work and confused thought. 
It is said indeed that genius is careless, but many of our children 
are not geniuses. 

2, Penmanship — careful, legible: 2 at head of paper in red means 
rejected for poor penmanship; 1, rejected for inattention to form; 3, 
for bad spelling; 4, . . . 



138 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

5. In or out of class. (The paper may be referred to later and we 
may wish to know the conditions under which it was written.) 

6. Class and division, N. B. All these with punctuation, . 

7. Subject — ^position of that and all the others. Other positions 
might be chosen, but this arrangement has certain distinct advantages, 

8. Margin and indention. 

9. Ink. 

Caps, for simple rules as for 5, E means Eng. Gram, condensed. 
Many subheads might be used here if fovmd necessary or desirable; 
viz., 6 la subj. is sing, and ought to be plu. But one advantage of 
this system is that the pupil soon becomes so familiar with the general 
rules that he quickly tracks down the error without having it "caught 
and held" for him, so to speak. 

7, 8, 9, 10. Unity is the principle insisted upon here. But unity 
is the very essence of mathematics and the sciences. So I submit 
that these standards are serviceable alike to the teacher of science 
and to the teacher of language. 

11, 12 refer to the higher literary qualities, value for other depts., 
etc. 

If the teacher does not wish to reject, he returns to the pupil to 
mark with black lead pencil each error with the figure which represents 
the standard violated and then to sum up and tabulate the errors at 
the end. Then comes the teacher's estimate of the pupils self-criti- 
cism. This work may be done very rapidly and with great accuracy 
viz., 1, 3, 5. 

South Boston High School 

English: Topic Syllabus for Written Worl-, 1912-1913 

A. Letter Writing : 

(1) School; e. g.. Notes of Request to Teachers, Complaints, 

etc. 

(2) Business Letters; e. g.. Orders to Grocery, Dry-Goods Store, 

etc. Complaints in regard to Goods Sent, etc. Replies to 
Advertisements . 

(3) Types of Superscriptions: business, social. 

(4) Telegrams, Cablegrams. 

(5) Brief Advertisements. 

(6) Social Letters: informal, formal. 

B. Exercises in Spelling and Defining. Lists of Words Commonly 

Misspelled, or Incorrectly Used. Lists, also of Common Busi- 
ness and Industrial Terms. 

C. Exercises in Use of Capitals. 

D. Exercises in Punctuation: period, comma, semi-colon, colon, 

apostrophe, quotation marks, interrogation point. 

E. Elements of Grammar; Sentence Structure. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 139 

F. Elementary Rhetoric, Figures of Speech: simile, metaphor, irony, 

personification, metonymy, contrast, climax. 

G. Types of Tests in Text-study. 

H. Book-Reports — Not on Novels only, but also on Lives of Great 
Patriots, Great Business Men, on Industry, Trade, Geography 
and Travel, etc. 

I. Themes in Descriptive Narration, Exposition and Argumentation. 
In addition to the ordinary topics, to emphasize and encourage 
topics with a Vocational Trend; and especially those bearing 
on Boston (and South Boston); Trade and Industry: — high- 
ways, boulevards, machines, mills, warehouses, stores, docks, 
waterways, means of handling freight, pictures, art; art- 
manufactures, etc. 

J. Principles of Rhetoric and Composition; Paragraph Structure, 
Topic Sentence, Unity, Coherence, Force, Beauty, Originality. 

K. History of American and English Literature. 

L. Quotations: prose, poetry. 

A king can make a belted knight, 

A marquis, duke, and a' that, 
But an honest man's aboon his might 

Guid faith, he mauna fa' that. 

— Burns. 

His life was gentle; and the elements 

So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up 
And say to all the world, "This was a Man! 

— ShaJcespere. 



Application. 

English High School, 

February 12, 1906. 
The Honorable, the School Board, 

Boston, Mass. 
Gentlemen: 

While I have designedly ignored attacks from a source which is not 
disinterested, I have been advised to furnish you with the following 
letters, which, in addition to those already placed in your charge, 
tend to show that temperamentally, as in every other way, I am 
entirely capable of cordially co-operating with others; and, further- 
more, to act thus is quite in accord with my disposition, my custom 
and my character. 

The writers of these letters have had amplest personal knowledge 
of me in the matters of which they speak, which matters, taken 
together, embrace all the relations and activities of my life in Boston. 



140 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

I send you copies, as more convenient for use; but the originals, of 
course, are at your instant disposal, if you wish them. 

Respectfully yours, 

James Mahoney. 

Recent Letters 

East Boston High School, 
Boston, February 3, 1906. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

This is to certify that during the school year 1904-5 I was associated 
with Mr. James Mahoney, of the Public School Art League of Boston, 
in providing art decorations for our public school building, and that 
our relations were characterized by uniform courtesy and considera- 
tion on his part. 

(Signed) John F. Eliot, 

Head Master. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
Massachusetts Normal Art School 

Newbury, cor. Exeter St., Boston, 
George H. Bartlett, February 6, 1906. 

Principal. 
My Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

In reply to your favor, I beg to say that I have in mind the summer 
of 1903, I believe it was in July of that year, that the National Educa- 
tional Association held their Convention in Boston. I certainly shall 
never forget the excessive heat, and although poor humanity was 
sweltering at that time you were suddenly called upon by the executive 
committee of that Association to organize the Fine Arts Department, 
and I believe I am right in saying that it was on the very eve of the 
Convention. The program of the proceedings had already been made 
out, but you did not allow these difficult conditions to handicap you 
but at once organized a committee and arranged for a series of lectures, 
which were given. You also provided an exhibition in the Hunting- 
ton Chambers, which was well attended, and to add to this, a series 
of visits to the studios of prominent artists, besides attending to the 
newspaper end of the matter. 

In view of these facts, allow me to say that I know of no man who 
could or would have undertaken such a task at such short notice. 
Your quickness of perception regarding detail and promptness of 
action proved to me that you were a man that possessed intuitive 
executive ability and would at any time be equal to any emergency 
that should call for quickness of action and grasp of detail. 

Faithfully yours, 

(Signed) G. H. Bartlett. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 141 

Agassiz School, 
Boston, January 30, 1906. 
For a number of years I met Mr. James Mahoney frequently and 
consulted him in connection with the Boston Public School Art League. 
Our relations were always of the friendliest character and I prize 
his acquaintance very much. 

(Signed) John T. Gibson. 

Phillips Brooks School, 
Dorchester, January 31, 1906. 
Mr. James Mahoney, 

Charlesgate, Suite 310, Boston. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I was somewhat surprised at your statement of yesterday, for I 
know you only as a gentleman — one courteous and considerate at all 
times. This being the case, it is scarcely necessary to say anything 
further unless it be to add that I have had an acquaintance with you, 
as a member of the executive committee of the P. S. A. L., covering 
several years. 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) Henry B. Hall. 



Thomas N. Hart School, 
Boston, February 2, 1906. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

It has been my intention for some time to write you a letter to 
tell you how much I appreciated your extreme kindness and courtesy 
during the interviews and correspondence relative to the Boston 
Public School Art League, of which you are a prominent member. 

It was all the more marked because I was obliged to disappoint 
your League and you by my unwillingness to have a public meeting 
at the time you suggested. I hope our meeting in this matter may 
be the beginning of a long and pleasant acquaintance. 

Yours truly, 

(Signed) John F. Dwight. 

It has been my good fortune to know Mr. James Mahoney quite 
intimately for some time as the Secretary of an Art League and as 
teacher and friend. 

I have uniformly found him to be a genial, courteous, most accom- 
modating, and an exceedingly agreeable gentleman. 

Because he has shown unusual interest and devoted much time to 
an important matter pertaining to our schools — the beautifying of 



142 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

the buildings — he deserves the praise and the confidence of all 
interested in our schools. 

(Signed) Charles N. Bentley, 

Oliver Hazard Perry School. 
Boston, February 2, 1906. 

January 30, 1906. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I take much pleasure in stating that your services in behalf of the 
English High School Association, of whose executive committee you 
were at one time a member, were marked, and you displayed much 
interest and energy in the work. As an ex -President of the Associa- 
tion and member of the committee for many years I have been in a 
position to know its value. Permit me to add that our relations have 
always been most pleasant, and you have my best wishes for success 
in any undertaking upon which you may enter. 

Yours truly, 

(Signed) Joseph M. Gibbons. 
James Mahoney, Esq., 
"Charlesgate," Boston. 



Confidential. 

This is to certify that I have known Mr. James Mahoney for 
fifteen years as a colleague in the English High, and believe him to 
be devoted and able in his work, and conscientious in the discharge 
of his duty. 

He is a man of unusual ability and exceptional force of character. 

(Signed) Wm. T. Strong. 
Boston, Mass. 

January 14, 1906. 



Confidential. 

English High School, 
Boston, January 15, 1906. 
My relations with Mr. James Mahoney during the past eighteen 
years have uniformly been cordial, and in all our intercourse he has 
shown himself a perfect gentleman. 

He ranks high as a scholar, and his ability to instruct and handle 
a class of boys has been first class. 

My room has always been near his so that I have had a fine opportu- 
nity to observe and pass judgment. 

(Signed) M. J. Hill. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 143 

Boston, January 15, 1906. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

In view of the fact that I was your colleague for fourteen years at 
the English High School and that during that time our relations 
were always cordial, above board and those of gentlemen imbued 
with a common desire to devote our best life and our best efforts to 
the betterment of the youth of the city, I am impelled to write you 
this letter, upon learning that you are a candidate for the position 
of supervisor left vacant by the resignation of Mr. Brooks. 

This is a personal letter to you, in a sense confidential, yet you may 
use it as you see fit. In it I simply wish to bear testimony to the 
high regard in which I hold you as a man and as an educator. I have 
the fullest confidence in and the greatest admiration for your deep 
and varied attainments as a scholar and for your uprightness of 
character. I consider that the judicial turn of your mind, your 
grasp of the true inwardness of things, and the knowledge of foreign 
schools and school management, obtained by you while abroad, 
cannot but be of great benefit to the schools of Boston. 

I sincerely hope that you may be successful in your aspiration to 
enlarge your usefulness to the city. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) H. C. Shaw. 



Boston, January 16, 1906. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

You have asked me to state what my relations have been with 
you during the past eighteen years that we have been together in the 
E. H. School. 

One word will express my answer : Our relations have always been 
most pleasant and most cordial. 

As a man, as a teacher, as a colleague and as a friend, I have always 
found you ready to do your part, and it is because of all that that I 
stayed by you even in spite of threats that I would be sorry to keep 
company with you ; threats which quickly materialized when charges 
were preferred against me last May, before the High School Com- 
mittee. 

But I had impartial judges who recognized as did yours that these 
attacks were altogether based on calumny. I was vindicated, so 
were you; that must be sufficient. 

We have both done our work to the best of our ability ; let us con- 
tinue and we shall find in our hearts our reward. 
Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Chas. P. Lebon. 



144 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

18 Armandine St., New Dorchester, Mass. 

January 16, 1906. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

My acquaintance with Mr. James Mahoney extends over a period 
of nine years. Our relations with each other have always been of 
the most pleasant character. In his dealings with me he has ever 
been manly, courteous, obliging. I have always found him kind, 
gentlemanly, and ever ready in his manifestation of good will in the 
many ways which our association in school life affords. 
. Respectfully yours, 

(Signed) John J. Cadigan. 



My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

In reply to your kind note I will state that I was associated with 
you in school work for eleven years in the E. H. S. The last four or 
five years of that time my room was near yours, so that I had every 
opportunity to judge for myself in regard to the discipline. I am 
happy to be able to say, from my own observation that the discipline 
was perfect, during your presence and in your absence the pupils 
were perfectly under your control. I know that there is no more 
thorough instructor in the school and that your scholarship is of the 
highest class. I have been informed on trustworthy authority that 
you have also a profound knowledge of law. In your intercourse 
with me, you have always been a perfect gentleman, kind and consid- 
erate in word and action and, so far as my observation goes, that has 
been your manner toward every teacher. I do not know any one 
who has more perfect self-control. 

You have my best wishes for your future. 

Cordially yours, 

(Signed) Chas. E. Stetson. 
27 Granite St., Quincy. 



English High School, 
Boston, January 15, 1906. 

It gives me pleasure to certify that I have been associated with 
Mr. James Mahoney, as a fellow-teacher, in the English High School 
since September, 1888. 

Mr. Mahoney possesses excellent ability as a teacher, accuracy 
and breadth as a scholar, combined with strength in discipline and 
dignity of deportment seldom equaled. I believe Mr. Mahoney to 
be thoroughly conscientious in his work, and, so far as it is in my 
power to judge, always punctual and prompt at his post of duty, and 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 145 

anxious, above all things, to develop manhood and gentlemanly- 
qualities in his pupils. 

Respectfully, 

(Signed) Charles B. Travis, 

Master in E.H. S. 

To Whom It May Concern: 

This may certify that a few years ago Mr. James Mahoney and 
myself were thrown into close relations in connection with "The 
Public School Art League." 

It is a pleasure to say that all our relations were of the most agree- 
able character. 

Very respectfully, 
BowDoiN School, (Signed) Alonzo Meserve, 

January 22, 1906. Principal. 

Mr. James Mahoney, 

Master, English High School. 
Dear Sir: 

Your favor of the 22nd inst. is at hand. 

Although I never do or say anything intended to influence the 
choice of my superiors I am happy to say that your dealings with me 
in connection with the placing of some $600 worth of works of art in 
this school by the Public School Art League were most honorable 
and I retain very pleasant recollections of our business relations at 
that time. 

Hoping you are enjoying good health and have a pleasant class of 
pupils this year, I am 

Yours very respectfully, 

(Signed) Willlvm B. Atwood, 

Master, Frothingham School. 
Charlestown, 

January 23, 1906. 

I am glad of an opportunity to state my opinion that Mr. James 
Mahoney would serve with efficiency in the office of Superintendent 
of Schools. 

From an experience of a number of years upon the Executive 
Committee of the Public School Art League, with Mr. Mahoney, I 
have found him to be most earnest and fair-minded; and on many 
occasions I have seen him deal with a difficult situation with considera- 
tion and tact. 

(Signed) J. T. Coolidge, Jr. 
114 Beacon St., Boston. 
January 16, 1906. 



146 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

RoxBURY, Mass., 
January 20, 1906. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

This may certify that I have personally known Mr. James Mahoney 
since 1877, when he was a pupil of mine in North Brookfield, Mass. 
As a pupil he was singularly faithful and capable; in fact, I should 
rank him as one of the six ablest pupils I have had in thirty years of 
teaching. I know that since then he has been a constant student, 
covering a wide range of subjects, ambitious to excel in whatever he 
undertook. As a result I consider him, to-day, one of the most 
scholarly men I know, with a breadth of scholarship and an accuracy 
of information exceedingly rare. In my judgment Mr. Mahoney 
cannot fail to adorn any position where such scholarship is essential. 

(Signed) Charles M. Clay. 



Boston, January 17, 1906. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

Mr. James Mahoney served with me formerly on the board of 
government of the English High School Association. His relations 
with the other members and with myself were always harmonious 
and agreeable. 

I have no knowledge to the contrary. I was at the time secretary 
of the Association. 

(Signed) Wm. H. Moriarty. 



23 Pembroke Street, Newton, 
January 22, 1906. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

While Mr. James Mahoney was associated with the Board of 
Government of the English High School Association of Boston, 
some years ago, of which I have served as Treasurer since 1872, 
I learned to respect his ability, erudition, judicial temperament and 
universal urbanity of manner. 

I found him to be a perfect gentleman in the strictest meaning of 
that term, and have enjoyed his acquaintance all these years. The 
expression of his convictions while firm were always gentle and kindly. 
I should consider him a valuable acquisition to the Board of Super- 
visors in these days when so many educators are tempted to maneuver 
for position rather than eminence in their profession. 

Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) Wm. H. Partridge. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 147 

August 30, 1904. 
To THE Committee on Nomination of Supervisor of the Boston 
Public Schools, 
Mason Street, Boston, 
Gentlemen: 

I have for some years known Mr. James Mahoney, a candidate 
for the position of Supervisor of the Boston Public Schools, and con- 
sider him an excellent man in every way for the position. From 
long experience and other mental attributes I think he is especially 
well fitted. He is perfectly able physically, in my opinion, to attend 
to the duties of the position. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) M. H. Richardson. 



Joseph A. Sheehan 

Counsellor at Law 

53 State Street, Boston. 

Boston, May 26, 1906. 
James Mahoney, Esq., 

535 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

The ambition, which animates every real man to advance in his 
chosen profession, is a laudable one and ought to meet with encour- 
agement, in the absence of good and substantial reason to the contrary. 

With that thought in mind, I am pleased to express my belief and 
confidence in your ability and capacity to fill any position to which 
you might be chosen in the educational system of Boston, with credit 
to yourself and to the advantage of our schools. 

It will not be gainsaid, I believe, that you are thoroughly competent 
from a scholarly point of view. Those who oppose your advance- 
ment do so because of what they term "temperamental" objections. 
This idea, I think, arises out of the conditions which have surrounded 
you in your work during the past few years. Because you have not 
remained passive and undisturbed under what you have regarded as 
unjust treatment, but have at times manifested indignation as would 
every true and useful man under like conditions, your opponents urge 
that you should not be advanced. In fairness, the objection pre- 
sented, should not militate against you. 

From my knowledge of you acquired as a pupil under your in- 
struction in the English High School sixteen years ago, and my ac- 
quaintance with you since, I am convinced that if you were advanced 
in the service, in the fullness of your power, the objection which has 
been raised against you would readily fade away; that you would 
demonstrate to your superiors by the manner and quality of your 



148 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

work, as well as by your personal stability, the wisdom of their choice, 
which I feel would meet with the approval of all fair and impartial 
critics. 

Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Joseph A. Sheehan. 

Moors & Cabot 

111 Devonshire Street 

John F. Moors Bond department 

Charles M. Cabot in charge of 

C. Lee Todd Francis E. Smith 

Boston, February 14, 1906. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I am glad of the chance to show that I appreciated having you for 
a teacher when I was in the English High School. I feel that you were 
impartial, and well know that it was almost never possible to impose 
upon you. I remember that your history lessons were well taught. 

There are three things about your hours that still stand out strongly : 

1. Your love for fresh air, and your care that we should begin your 
hour with a well- ventilated room. 

2. Your teaching us to write about our history subjects in short, 
concise sentences. You emphasized this point so strongly that I 
have remembered and profited by it in business. 

3. Most of all I remember your great disgust for anything dirty or 
"smutty." It is a fine thing for a pupil to have not only a teacher 
who teaches well, but one who also holds him up as much as possible 
to good clean ideas. 

Yours truly, 

(Signed) Francis E. Smith. 

GouLSTON & Stores 
Attorneys- AT- Law 

17 Milk Street, Boston, Mass., 
January 27, 1906. 
James Mahoney, Esq., 

University Club, Beacon St., Boston. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I have been given to understand that you are a candidate for the 
position of Supervisor in the Board of Supervisors of the Public 
Schools of the City of Boston. 

I want to take this opportunity to express to you my earnest hope 
that the School Committee will elect you to fill the vacancy which now 
exists in the Board. I look back with a great deal of pleasure to our 
relations as master and pupil in the English High School, and I remem- 
ber you as a teacher whom we all respected and esteemed. Your 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 149 

control of the pupils and your ability to impart knowledge which you 
possessed to them made you, in my estimation, one of the most com- 
petent and valuable teachers in the old English High School. 

In your relations with your pupils I have always found you to be 
honorable, fair and just, and, above all, a perfect gentleman. 
Wishing you every possible success, I beg to remain. 

Very cordially yours, 
(Signed) Leopold M. Goulston. 

Falvey Brothers Co. 
Falvet Building 
Broadway and F Street 

South Boston, Mass., 

January 9, 1906. 
Mr. James Mahoney, 

Boston, Mass. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

Understanding that you are a candidate for the position of Super- 
visor for the schools of the City of Boston, it affords me great pleasure 
to write a few words, trusting that they will prove beneficial in adding 
to your success. 

While I was a pupil under you, in the High School, I must say that 
no other teacher was more thorough in his teachings or more impartial 
in his manner. 

I sincerely hope that you will be successful in your endeavors to 
obtain this position. 

Trusting you are well and with kindest wishes, I remain 

Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Henry E. Falvey. 

Louis F. Gates 

Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law 

1101-2 Barristers Hall 

Boston, Mass. 

February 21, 1906. 
Mr. James Mahoney, 

Hotel Charlesgate, Boston, Mass. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I am informed that you are desirous of obtaining the vacant super- 
visorship of the Boston Schools and I write to wish you all success in 
obtaining this position. 

In looking back over my school days and in recollection of the 
teachers with whom I came in contact I know of no one, in my opinion, 
who can fill that place as well as yourself. 

It seems to me that this position needs a man who has a wide range 



150 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

of knowledge together with dignity and tact, much more so than a 
man who is confining his efforts to teaching, and from my experience 
in your room I am fully convinced that you have these attributes in a 
marked degree. 

Again wishing you all success and with every assurance that I will 
do anything I can for you at any time, I am 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) Louis F. Gates. 

Laskeh & Bernstein 
161 William Street 

Mr. James Mahoney, New York, January 30, 1906. 

Boston, Mass. 
Dear Sir: 

I have just heard that you are a candidate for Supervisor of the 
Public Schools of Boston, and I am hastening to offer you my very 
best wishes for your success. 

I will always remember with pleasure the two years under which I 
studied with you, and the other two years which I spent in the Eng- 
lish High School, in which I did not have the pleasure of being in any 
of your classes. 

I do not need to add that I consider you thoroughly competent to 
fill this important position, for I am sure that every one who has 
come into personal contact with you must be convinced of this fact 
at the first meeting. 

I have heard that you have been attacked in several instances 
regarding your manner of conducting your classes, which certainly 
seems to me to be as unfounded and as unjust an accusation as I have 
ever heard, for in all my experiences with you I can only speak of you 
in the very highest terms, both as a teacher and as a gentleman. 

Again wishing you all possible success, and assuring you of my will- 
ingness to aid you in your candidacy with any means in my power, I 
remain. 

Very truly yours, 
(Signed) Milton L. Bernstein. 

The Consolidation Coal Company 

Georges Creek Cumberland Coal 

50 Congress Street 

Boston 

Mr. James Mahoney, February 12, 1906. 

The Charlesgate, Boston, Mass. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

Having been advised that you are out for a place on the Board of 
Supervisors of Schools in Boston, I hasten to extend to you my best 
wishes for your success. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 151 

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I look back on the old Eng- 
lish High School days, especially while under your jurisdiction, and I 
can speak for the other fellows with whom I came in contact, when I 
say that you always treated us squarely and showed us every consid- 
eration. 

With very best wishes, I am, 

Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Geo. P. Oswold. 

Henry W. Savage 
Boston Real Estate Insurance, Mortgages 
7 Pemberton Square 
F. H. Purington, Manager. 

Boston, February 9, 1906. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

Although it has been some years since my griaduation from the 
English High School, I have always remembered with much pleasure 
the courteous, just treatment I received from you while I was a 
scholar there. 

I consider myself fortunate to be placed under your especial charge 
during my first year in the school, and feel sure that the other boys 
appreciated as much as I the square, man-to-man fashion with which 
you invariably dealt with all of us. 

With best regards, I remain. 

Cordially yours, 

(Signed) Frank H. Purington. 

Claude L. Allen 

Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law 

717-721 Old South Building 

294 Washington Street 

Boston, Mass., 
Mr. James Mahoney, February 12, 1906. 

535 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I understand that you are a candidate for the position of Supervisor 
of Schools, and if I can assist you in any way, it would be a pleasure 
for me to do so. 

As you well know, I have always had a great deal of respect for you 
as a man; and confidence in your ability in your chosen profession 
ever since I received instruction from you in the good old English 
High, some twelve years ago. 

Hoping that you may be successful in securing the position which 
I know you would fill with credit to yourself and satisfaction to the 
city, I remain. 

Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Claude L. Allen. 



152 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

A. Silver Emerson 

Counsellor-at-Law 

6 Beacon Street Room 827 

Boston 

Boston, Mass., February 9, 1906. 
Mr. James Mahoney, 

Hotel Charlesgate, 535 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

I am glad to leam that you are a candidate for supervisorship of 
the Boston Public Schools. Have been a pupil of yours at the E. H. S. 
in 1895 and again in 1898, both in History and in German; and must 
confess that your instruction was highly appreciated. It was im- 
pressive and could stand the most vital criticism. I know of several 
who have availed themselves of the opportunity received at the 
school at that time and have since united theory and practice, espe- 
cially in the German language. I can also recall your Latin and 
Greek translation. 

If the School Committee of the City of Boston can procure a scholar 
of half the literary excellence and ability in all ways possessed by you, 
it ought to congratulate itself. 

Hoping that you will be their choice in this coming election, I beg 
to remain. 

Your friend and pupil, 

(Signed) A. Silver Emerson. 

743 East Broadway, South Boston, Mass. 

May 24, 1913. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

* * * He * 

1st. I was a member of the High School Committee at the time 
above mentioned. 

2nd. I remember well the hearing; the part which Mr. Peterson, 
Supervisor, took in the hearing impresses me even at this late date. 
He said he considered you the best teacher of History in this country. 
***** 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) Willl^m J. Gallivan. 

May 29, 1913. 
To Whom It May Concern : 

I have been acquainted with Mr. James Mahoney since 1904 at 
which time I became a member of the Boston School Committee. Mr. 
Mahoney at that time was a teacher in the Boston High School. He 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 153 

had the reputation of being a brilliant scholar and a most excellent 
teacher. 

He was a candidate for the position of school supervisor during 
this year and in looking over his credentials Drs. McDonald, Harkins, 
Keenan and myself were satisfied that he was eminently qualified for 
the position. We found that Mr. Mahoney was a graduate of Am- 
herst College, of the University of Berlin, Germany, a graduate stu- 
dent of Johns Hopkins University and of Harvard University, and his 
record as a teacher was first class. 

He was genial, gentlemanly, level-headed and enthusiastic and 
therefore we supported him as a candidate for the supervisorship. 
Although Mr. Mahoney was not elected I have always felt that I 
have never had occasion to change my opinion of him. I firmly 
believe that there is no man connected with the Boston Schools in an 
educational capacity who is better qualified in scholarship, good judg- 
ment and capacity for imparting knowledge than Mr. Mahoney. 

Drs. McDonald and Harkins are now dead but their opinion of 
Mr. Mahoney 's abilities were the same as mine. I hope this tribute 
to his ability, his sense of justice and his gentlemanly instincts may 
help to bring him the reward which he deserves. 

(Signed) John H. Kennealy, M. D. 
Brookline, 

117 Harvard St., 



CHAPTER VII 

One, who never turned his back, but marched breast forward. 
Never doubted clouds would break. 

Never dreamed, though right were loorsted, wrong would triumph. 
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, sleep to wake. 

— Browning. 

He taught, but first he followed it him-selve. 

— Chaucer. 

Letters Urging Mahoney for Principalship in South Boston 

High 

In 1907, James Mahoney was promoted to be head of the English 
department in the South Boston High School. In 1914 he was a 
candidate for the headmastership in the same school. The appended 
documents are in connection with the latter application. 



James J. Phelan 

60 Congress Street 

Boston 

James Mahoney, Esq., January 31, 1914. 

72 G St., South Boston, Mass. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

Having heard that Mr. Augustus D. Small, now principal of the 
South Boston High School, was to resign that position next June, and 
knowing of your connection with the school for the past seven years 
as head of the English Department, and realizing your worthiness as 
a successor to Mr. Small, I have this day taken it upon myself to 
write to Michael H. Corcoran, George E. Brock, Dr. David D. Scan- 
nell, Jeremiah E. Burke, Frank V. Thompson, and Augustine L. 
Rafter asking them for their kind consideration of your qualifications 
as the logical successor to Mr. Small. 

I have also written Judge Joseph D. Fallon, Col. Edward L. Logan, 
Dr. John F. O'Brien, Mr. John S. Flanagan, and Mr. Joseph E. Dono- 
van, soliciting their support in your behalf. I did this latter, realiz- 
ing that these gentlemen know you well, and would be material assist- 
ance in pushing your cause. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) James J. Phelan. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 155 

John J. Toomey, President Directors 

Walter Jenney 1 Vice- Albert R. Benks 

Samuel Sullivan J Presidents David W. Creed 

James E. Coveney, Secretary A Frank Gregory 

Thomas E. Saint, Treasurer Charles P. Mooney 

Basil Gavin 
Dr. Wm. P. Cross 
Trade Association 
Of South Boston 

South Boston, Mass., 
SuPT. Franklin B. Dyer, May 23, 1914. 

School Department, City of Boston 
Mason St., Boston, Mass. 
Dear Sir: 

The Trade Association of South Boston, having recently learned 
that there is to be a vacancy of Headmaster in the South Boston High 
School after the present term, have discussed the matter which is of 
such vital importance to our district. At our recent meeting it was 
voted unanimously to write you our hearty endorsement of Mr. James 
Mahoney and urge his consideration by you when the vacancy is to 
be filled. 

Mr. Mahoney is a resident of South Boston, is well known to our 
people and held in high esteem. For many years he has been a Mas- 
ter in our High School and he knows the district, is familiar with the 
school, its pupils and teachers, and there is abundance of evidence 
showing his efficiency, and his ability to fill this important position. 

Hoping for a favorable consideration of his name. 
Very truly yours, 

(Signed) James E. Coveney, 

Secretary. 

The Evangelical Alliance of Greater Boston 

Established 1874 Incorporated 1911 
An Interdenominational Organization 
President 

Rev. James Todd, D. D. 

Boston, Mass., May 9, 1914. 
To Dr. Dyer, 

Supt. of Public Schools, Boston, Mass. 
My dear Dr. Dyer: 

Indisposition has prevented me from calling on you at your office. 
So I write to heartily recommend Professor Mahoney as a suitable 
successor to Principal Small of the South Boston High School who, I 
understand, is to retire. 

I have been pastor of the Presbyterian Church of South Boston for 
ten years, and have had many opportunities for knowing Mr. Mahoney 
and his work as teacher of English in the above named school; and 



156 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

believe him to be a man of high character, and culture, and scholar- 
ship well qualified for the position of Principal of our South Boston 
High School. 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) James Todd. 

Boston University Law School 
Ashburton Place 
Office of the Dean 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, April 25, 1914. 

Superintendent of Schools, 

Mason Street, Boston, Mass. 
Dear Dr. Dyer: 

Information has come to me that in the near future there are likely 
to be several head-masterships vacant in the Boston schools. Will 
you pardon me if I commend to your attention, my friend, James 
Mahoney, now head of the English Department of the South Boston 
High School. I have known Mr. Mahoney very favorably for almost 
twenty years, and I have a very high respect for his scholarly attain- 
ments and his industry. He apparently has executive ability, but I 
have not personally been brought into contact with that part of his 
characteristics. I have, however, heard of him in that manner, and 
believe he has the requisite executive ability. No doubt his record 
in the School will be the best evidence of that. His integrity and 
honesty are beyond all question. 

Something over twenty years ago, I think it was, I tutored him in 
Law, and I was impressed with his patient endeavor to get at the 
foundation of things, and weigh both sides of propositions and mat- 
ters that were presented to him, without being hasty in jumping at 
conclusions. I am sure I don't know what his politics may be, for I 
have never seen him obtrude any partisan notions of any kind. 

I hope circumstances will permit your serious consideration of his 
name for a position as head master. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) Homer Albers, 

Dean. 

Bernard Jenney, President E. J. Diloway, Treasurer 

Walter Jenney, Vice-President 
Jenney Manufacturing Co. 
Established in 1812 

Boston, May 4, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, Supt., 
Mason Street, Boston, Mass. 
Dear Sir: 

I have been told that there is soon to be a vacancy in the position 
of head master of the South Boston High School and presuming such 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 157 

to be the case I take the liberty of urging the appointment of Mr. 
James Mahoney. 

As you perhaps know, Mr. Mahoney is a graduate of Amherst and 
also studied as postgraduate at Johns Hopkins and University of 
Berlin, Germany, and has since taught several years at Worcester, 
nineteen years at the English High School, Boston, and I believe seven 
years at the South Boston High School where he now is. 

I have had the pleasure of ten or twelve years' acquaintance with 
him and have heard much of him from two of my sons who were under 
his instruction at the English High School, and I am glad to testify 
that he has always been held in the very highest respect by the boys. 
I believe this is one of the best recommendations a teacher can have. 
I think every one who knows him can testify to his exceptional knowl- 
edge of the particular subjects which he has been called upon to 
teach, viz., English and History, as well as his broad general knowl- 
edge, and I am confident that if appointed to the position he would 
fill it with honor to the school and to the city. I believe also that his 
appointment would be most satisfactory to the parents and other 
residents of the district. 

With perfect confidence that the matter will receive your most 
careful consideration, I am. 

Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) Walter Jenney, 
English High School, Class 1S72, 
Mass. Institute of Technology, Class 1877. 

School of Commerce and Finance 
An incorporated Institution of College Grade 
with Degree Granting Privileges 
Office of the Dean 

April 30, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, Superintendent, 
Boston School System, 

Mason Street, Boston. 
Dear Sir: 

I have known Mr. James Mahoney, Head of the English Depart- 
ment of the South Boston High School, for several years, and I have 
a very high regard for his scholarship, ambition, and executive ability. 
For some years past he has been in charge of the educational work at 
the Catholic Literary Union of Charlestown, and the splendid suc- 
cess attained in that department of the Union's activities is due 
almost entirely to Mr. Mahoney 's executive ability and progressive 
policies. 

In selecting a head master for the South Boston High School, I 
assume that you will favor a man of exemplary habits, who possesses 
executive ability, and who has a large appreciation of the humani- 
tarian side of educational work. Mr. Mahoney is such a man. He is 



158 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

progressive, aggressive, and above all — a man through and through. 
I should like to see him promoted because I believe it would 
strengthen the effectiveness of the South Boston High School. 

If you desire, I should be very glad to discuss the matter with you 
in person. 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) H. C. Bentley, 

Dean. 

May 13, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, 
Supt. of Schools, 

Mason St., Boston, Mass. 
Dear Mr. Dyer: 

I have just discovered that I made a sad error in my letter to you 
yesterday in regard to Mr. Mahoney, whom I recommended as a candi- 
date for Superintendent of Schools instead of Head Master of the 
South Boston High School. I trust that my error will not jeopardize 
any favorable consideration you can give Mr. Mahoney. 

As I wrote you before, Mr. Mahoney has been identified with our 
South Boston Schools for a long time, and on one occasion I had the 
pleasure of addressing some of his boys who were preparing for a busi- 
ness life, and I have always felt Mr. Mahoney was a man eminently 
fitted for any position he might aspire to in our Public Schools as 
Master. My son, who was a pupil of his some years ago, called my 
attention to the fact that it might be a good thing to write you in Mr. 
Mahoney's behalf but I misinterpreted the position. 

Regretting the mistake I made in my former letter, I beg to remain. 

Yours truly, 

(Signed) Geo. F. Lawley. 

Rupert S. Carven, C. P. A. Arthur V. Grimes, C. P. A. 

Carven & Grimes 

Certified Public Accountants 

181 Devonshire Street 

Boston 

May 16, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, 

Superintendent of Schools, Boston. 
Dear Sir: 

Learning of a probable vacancy in the Head-Mastership of the 
South Boston High School, I am taking the liberty of saying a few 
words in endorsement of Mr. James Mahoney for the position. 

I have known him for many years and have always admired him 
for his great scholarship and ability. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 159 

It has been my good fortune to be intimately associated with him 
in the great work he has accomplished for the young men of Charles- 
town in the Educational Courses of the Catholic Literary Union. 

During my term as an Instructor, I have had the opportunity of 
knowing Mr. Mahoney best through the executive ability he has 
displayed, through the earnestness he has shown at all times, and 
particularly, through the kindly interest he has manifested in every 
pupil of this Evening School, and this a labor of love on his part. 

Should you honor Mr. Mahoney with this appointment, I feel that 
the Educational Courses under your able direction would have 
another Head-Master who would be a credit to you and the Boston 
School Department. Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) Rupert S. Carven, C. P. A. 

Falvey Brothers 

Dry Goods 

421-423 West Broadway 

South Boston, Mass., May 13, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, 

Superintendent, Boston Public Schools, 
Mason St., Boston, Mass. 
Dear Sir: 

In view of the reported approaching retirement of Mr. Small from 
the Head-Mastership of the South Boston High School, may I ask 
your consideration of the name of Mr. James Mahoney for appoint- 
ment as his successor.'* 

Mr. Mahoney was my teacher in the English High School seven 
years ago, and he has always impressed me as a very capable and 
high-minded man. Since his appointment to the local High School 
he has resided in our district, and he is respected and esteemed by our 
citizens. 

His selection would to my mind be a logical promotion for a well 
qualified educator. Very truly yours, 

(Signed) Henry E. Falvey. 

Parker, Wilder & Co. 

Commission Merchants 
4 Winthrop Square 215 Fourth Avenue 

Boston New York 

Boston, May 18, 1914. 
Mr. Franklin B. Dyer, 

Superintendent of Schools, Mason St., City. 
Dear Sir: 

I understand that Mr. James Mahoney, formerly of the Boston 
English High School, is a candidate for the position as head master in 
the South Boston High School. 



160 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

For a number of years while Mr. Mahoney was a teacher in the 
Boston English High School, I was a pupil in his room. He is a strict 
disciplinarian, a very fine teacher, and I find in business the fact of 
having been in his particular classroom for a few years has served me 
in a great many ways. 

It is with great pleasure that I add my letter to the many which I 
know you will receive indorsing Mr. Mahoney 's ability to fill the above 
position. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) Frederick R. Borgardus. 

John Winthrop School, 
Boston, May 18, 1914. 
Mr. James Mahoney, 

Master, South Boston High School, 
South Boston, Mass. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

You wished me to send you a word of commendation. Strange to 
say, I scarcely know how to respond, though I sincerely wish to do so. 
It is so difficult to praise personally. For me to say that you have 
the attributes of a gentleman, the instincts and training of the scholar, 
much executive ability and an excellent judgment, would be simply 
to state what is evident to everyone who knows you, even slightly, 
and yet if a recommendation is to be written, all of this, and much 
more, in truthfulness, must be recorded — and not alone this but some 
allusion also should be made to your sincerity, your honesty and your 
earnest desire to do, at all times, your duty. 

Now will you please consider all of this said (I fear too briefly said) 
in the hopes that it may prove of some little service to you, at some 
time or other, in the direction in which you may wish to use it. 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) Harry B. Hall. 

Private Office 

Established 1847 
R. H. Stearns & Company 
Boston 

May 13th, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, 

218 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. 
My dear Dr. Dyer: 

I hear that there are some vacancies to be filled in Head Master- 
ships. I trust it will not be considered an intrusion if I speak a good 
word for my friend, Mr. James Mahoney. Others can speak of him 
as to his executive ability as a teacher; I know him as a scholar and 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 161 

a gentleman. I shall be glad if a word from me will be of help to him 
and to you. We are both graduates of Amherst College and it is 
through that connection that I have come to know him and to learn 
of his fine scholarship and conscientious faithful work. 

Sincerely, 

(Signed) F. W. Stearns. 

New York 

11 West 19th Street 

Brown Dtjrrell Co. 

Importers and Manufacturers 

Hosiery, Underwear, Handkerchiefs & Furnishings 

Thomas B. Fitzpatrick, President and Treasurer. 

Boston, May 8, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, 

Superintendent of Schools, 
Mason St., Boston, Mass. 
Dear Doctor Dyer: 

I understand there are likely to be vacancies in one or two of the 
Boston High Schools, so far as the position of principal is concerned, 
and that Mr. James Mahoney, now head of the English Department, 
South Boston High School, is an applicant for one of these places. 

I have known Mr. Mahoney for a number of years and believe him 
to be a very capable and conscientious teacher. I have always 
heard him well spoken of, and trust his record is such that you can 
with all consistency give his application favorable consideration. 

Trusting I am not intruding by writing this word of commenda- 
tion, and with kind regards, I remain, 

Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) T. B. Fitzpatrick. 

May 5, 1914. 
Franklin B. Dyer, Esq., 

Superintendent of Schools, 
Boston, Mass. 
Dear Sir: 

I desire to write to you in the wish to aid Mr. James Mahoney, now 
at the head of the English Department of the South Boston High 
School, to attain the position of head-master of that school. 

As a former pupil of his in the English High School, class of 1895, 1 
wish to testify to the following facts regarding Mr. Mahoney: 

(1) That his teaching was on a high moral plane; he never allowed 
any vulgarity or "smuttiness" to creep into his lessons in "Ancient 
History." 

(2) That in the English or composition connected with his history 

12 



162 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

lessons, his advice has been remembered, especially his insistence on 
examination papers being written in short, terse sentences. 

(3) That he was careful of the physical well-being of his classes, 
insisting on the rooms being thoroughly aired before each one of his 
hours. 

(4) That discipline during each of his hours was rigidly maintained 
and, while he was fair and impartial, I never saw any liberties taken 
with him. 

While I have never been in a position to know of his executive 
ability, I believe that a man possessing the foregoing qualifications 
must also combine with them that executive abUity which would make 
him a successful head-master. 

Yours truly very, 

(Signed) Francis E. Smith. 
Winchester, Mass. 
1 Wolcott Terrace. 

Boot and Shoe Recorder 
Publishing Company 

May 25, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, 

Superintendent of Schools, 
City of Boston, Mass. 
My dear Dr. Dyer: 

In view of the fact that I had the pleasure of meeting you in Cin- 
cinnati prior to your coming to Boston, I feel a more active interest 
in the success of Boston's schools. Therefore I want to bring you a 
few facts as to the excellent qualifications of James Mahoney of the 
South Boston High School for the place soon to be open, in the head- 
mastership of that school. 

My inspiration in life was obtained in his classroom in the English 
High School some fifteen years ago and I have enjoyed a close and 
intimate friendship with Mr. Mahoney ever since. But this is not 
what I want to impress, for there is a side of his work that possibly 
could not come to you better than from me. It is that of industrial 
potentiality — the guidance of young men into channels of useful 
employment — a work that I consider most valuable as supplementary 
to pedagogical training. I can cite you the names of many men 
referred me by him who have made a success of life in the shoe and 
leather industry, and I know of other industries likewise favored with 
clean cut men under his indorsement. 

The broad scope of his work was well known to me in my work on 
the Industrial Education Committee of the Boston Chamber of Com- 
merce. His membership in the South Boston Improvement Associa- 
tion and his activities in the industrial development of that section of 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 163 

the City should accent his availability to a post identified with educa- 
tion progress. 

As a Scholar I could quote you many examples but they are already 
in your possession. Enough for me to state that if you need a big 
man mentally, a strong man industrially, in his ability to give the 
young men under his charge (and my son will enjoy this, I hope) a 
better chance in life, you will consider well his qualifications. 
In hearty indorsement, I am, 

(Signed) Arthur D. Anderson, 

Editor. 

F. T. Slattert Co. 

154-155-156-158 Tremont Street 

Boston 

May 15, 1914. 
Dr. Franklin B. Dyer, 

Superintendent of Schools, 
Boston, Mass. 
Dear Sir: 

Having heard there may be a vacancy for position as Head Master 
of the South Boston High School in the near future, I take the lib- 
erty of writing you in the interest of my former teacher and friend, 
Mr. James Mahoney. 

I had the pleasure of being one of Mr. Mahoney's pupils, as did 
three of my brothers, and I believe him to be one of the finest and most 
honorable men I have ever met. His clean and honorable record and 
his devotion to teaching have equipped him for any vacancy and I 
trust he will receive your kind consideration. 

Yours very truly, 

(Signed) Ernest Manahan. 

Boston Young Men's 316 Huntington Ave. 

Christian Association The TeJ. Back Bay 4400 

Co-operative Engineering School 
Boston, Mass. 

April 27, 1914. 
Mr. Franklin B. Dyer, 

Superintendent of Schools, 
Mason St., Boston, Mass. 
Dear Sir: 

In consequence of the current rumor that there are to be one or two 
retirements of high school headmasters this coming June, I am taking 
the liberty of calling your attention to Mr. James Mahoney, head of 
the English Department of the South Boston High School, and 
formerly instructor in history at the Boston English High School, as 
a man well equipped for one of these vacancies. 



164 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

As a student of his at the Boston English High School during the 
years 1902-1906, and particularly as a student whose appreciation of 
his scholarly attitude and fairmindedness has steadily increased since 
passing from his influence, I recommend his consideration as a man 
who cannot have other than an influence in the right direction in the 
education of our high school students. 

Although still a young man I have realized for several years that 
the average American misses much in literature, history, etc., largely 
because his public school training has not given him the appreciation 
of these subjects which should start, at least, in youth; and I believe 
Mr. Mahoney would do much toward building up this early appre- 
ciation of these subjects. 

Trusting that you may be interested in this information concerning 
Mr. Mahoney, I am 

Yours truly, 
(Signed) Loren N. Downs, Jr. 
Instructor in Electrical Engineering. 
Electrical Department. 
288 St. Botolph Street. 

Letters from the teachers whom James Mahoney was connected 
with, while an instructor in the South Boston High School, may be 
interesting : 

To Whom It May Concern: 

During the school year of 1908-1909 I served as instructor of Eng- 
lish in the South Boston High School. The Head of the Department 
of English, Mr. James Mahoney, was my immediate superior and 
director in the conduct of my classes. 

As a man and fellow-teacher, I always found Mr. Mahoney to be 
most respectful, considerate, courteous, a perfect gentleman in all 
things and filled with fidelity towards his co-workers and his superiors. 
His business seemed to be always to attend to his own affairs. 

As a teacher, I had the privilege of observing his work and I noted 
the efficiency he displayed in handling hard classes in diflBcult subjects. 

Of his ability as an executive — as head of the department in which 
I served — I am well qualified to speak. At the monthly meetings of 
the English Department the organization of the department was 
made evident and from the records of these meetings one can readily 
learn that order and system is the basis of Mr. Mahoney 's plan. 

The English course in South Boston High, which was evolved by 
Mr. Mahoney, is most admirable. An especial feature which I recall 
being the requirement of a daily theme for all pupils. 

Stephen J. Murdock. 
Dorchester High School. 
16 June, 1911. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 165 

My dear Mk. Mahoney: 

During the two years that I have been a teacher in the South Boston 
High School there has been nothing to be regretted in our relation- 
ship as teachers, and I consider it very pleasant to have spent these 
two years together. My first impressions of S. B. H. were made 
while I was an assistant in the same home room with you, and they 
have been good impressions. 

Yours truly, 
June 16, 1911. (Signed) Hattie L. Gates. 

My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

In all my dealings with the teachers of our school, I have endeav- 
ored to maintain cordial and friendly relations. I have not found you 
an exception. On your part you have been willing to meet me half 
way, and to offer friendly assistance. 

I am glad to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of 
the harmony that has existed between us. 

Yours truly, 

(Signed) A. F. Campbell. 
South Boston High School. 
June 15, 1911. 

High School, South Boston, 
June 16, 1911. 
To Whom It May Concern: 

In all my dealings with Mr. James Mahoney I have always found 
him gentlemanly and courteous. 

Bertha Vogel. 

Pelham, N. H., July 13, 1911. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

In response to your request, I am very glad to write what I can. 
My service in the South Boston High School covering only the last 
year and my position there being only a temporary one, I am a little 
hesitant about the propriety of any statement from me. However, 
as everything I saw in the school was the happiest possible, it is a 
pleasure to have an opportunity to testify as to my impressions. 

From the very first day I spent at South Boston I was impressed 
with the high character, the effective work, and the hearty co-opera- 
tive spirit of all the teachers. I never saw anything to make me 
think any teacher should be excepted in the foregoing statement. 

You were very kind to me, and I always valued your assistance in 
all those matters that came up between us. I have heard only words 
of respect for your work at South Boston. 
Yours very truly, 

(Signed) Mary A. Cotter. 



166 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Mr. Mahoney, 
Dear Sir: 
It gives me great pleasure to voice here the expression of my sincere 
feeling of respect for you. In many friendly chats I have always 
found you the scholar, the courteous gentleman and the kindly col- 
league. In the meetings of the faculty, I have frequently admired 
your views on questions under discussion as I have felt that they were 
backed by strong and sincere convictions. 

Kindly accept this as the expression of my true regard for you and 
of my best wishes for your welfare. 

Yours truly, 

Henriette Goldstein. 
South Boston High School, 
June the fifteenth, 1911. 

Extracts from a letter Mrs. Goldstein wrote to Miss Mahoney after 
Mr. Mahoney 's death : 

"Our classrooms in South Boston High were on the same floor and 
nearly opposite. Many a pleasant chat in either French or German 
(both at first my native tongues) revealed to me his lofty ideals. Like 
myself, he believed our pupils must be trained not only industrially, 
or for the practical arts, but that insistence must be laid on the gentle 
arts that make for courtesy, kindness and charity." 

"Though differing in faiths, we met on ethical grounds." 

"A further proof of his kindness was afforded me when I taught in 
his department. His sympathy with the difficulties I encountered 
and which I freely discussed with him, his broad tolerance in accept- 
ing my views of how the subject was to be handled, permitting me to 
carry out my own ideas, are facts which, even more than the many 
pleasant talks we had, make me cherish his memory in gratitude and 
respect," 

Reasons submitted by James Mahoney why he should have been 
appointed to one of the Head-masterships which were vacant in June, 
I. Education: 

(1) Public Schools, North Brookfield. 

(2) Amherst College {Magna cum laude degree; Prizes; Phi 
Beta Kappa, etc.). 

(3) Johns Hopkins University, Post-Graduate Course. 

(4) Post-Graduate Courses: 

(a) Burlington Summer School of Languages (Diploma) . 

(b) Boston University Law School (Member of Massa- 
chusetts and also of United States Bar). 

(c) University of Berlin, Germany (Special courses, 
including science of education). 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 167 

II. Experience as Teacher: 

A. (1) Worcester High School, 3 years. 

(2) EngHsh High School, Boston, 19 years. 

(3) South Boston High School, 7 years. 

(4) Catholic Literary Union, 4 years. 

B. (1) Received at beginning of this experience in Boston a 
Grade A certificate entitling him to serve in any position in 
the School Department. 

(2) Entered the Department as SubstiUde in the English 
High School; and then, in due time and in regular suc- 
cession, and with corresponding increase of salary, passed 
through the following grades of rank: — Junior Master on 
Probation, Junior Master, Master, Master on Permanent 
Tenure; and then Master, Head of the English Department, 
South Boston High School. 

(3) In the Business School of the Catholic Literary Union 
of Charlestown, has served four years as Principal. 

III. Experience as an Executive: 

(Note: 30 years of success as a disciplinarian, particularly 
in handling large classes of unruly boys, shows executive 
ability in the school meaning of that term.) 

(1) Organized and has kept in existence for 20 years, the Pub- 
lic School Art League, which has placed about twenty-five 
thousand dollars' worth of pictures and casts in various public 
schools. 

(2) Service in connection with various Associations, e. g., (a) 
Treasurer of Salon Frangais for many years; (b) on Board of 
Directors of English High School Association; (c) Com- 
mittee on Education of the Trade Association of South Boston. 

(3) Seven years, as Head of the English Department, South 
Boston High School: Has organized and directed the work 
so well that he received a letter of praise from Assistant- 
Superintendent Thompson (in charge) who described his work 
as "Organized Experience." 

(4) As Principal of Catholic Literary LTnion Business School 
for four years (member of School Board for five years), he 
drew up the Course of Study; selected and hired the teachers; 
brought up the registration of the school from approximately 
70 to nearly 500 — this by securing the active co-operation of 
prominent men, clubs, societies, etc., of the District; made 
out the schedule of classes, etc., and kept the entire school 
working harmoniously and efficiently. The teachers testify 
that the teaching there has been the pleasantest in their 
experience. 



168 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

IV. Personal knowledge of and sympathy with the people who send 
their children to the High Schools : 

(1) He always lives in the district where his school is situated; 
this fact in itself inspires confidence and esteem. 

(2) He has had in his classes about 6,000 students, many of 
whom are now successful men of affairs and are sending their 
children to the schools. 

(3) Takes an active part in local affairs, e. g., is a member of 
the South Boston Trade Association and of the South Boston 
Citizens' Association. 

V. Broad Knowledge of the Science and Art of Education: 

He has made it a lifelong study (1) in his own classes; (2) as 
an active member of the National Educational Association; 
(3) by special courses in the University of Berlin; (4) study 
of the Prussian system of Education under the direction of the 
Prussian Minister of Education, 

VI. Strength of Personality and Character: 

This is a matter of more consequence than all the rest, for the 
training of young people is, ninety per cent, moral, and 
depends on the moral strength of the teacher rather than on 
the words he uses. Mr. Mahoney's sincerity of purpose and 
courage and strength of character is evidenced (1) by certifi- 
cates of his own teachers and friends; (2) by testimony of 
teachers and school authorities who had best opportunity to 
observe his work; (3) by testimony of parents and former 
students — many of whom are now prominent in various walks 
of life; (4) and above all his courage and strength of char- 
acter have been tested and proved by the nature of the opposi- 
tion which he has encountered. 

Nellie M. Mahoney. 



CHAPTER VIII 

*Wilt thou play to me as I die, sweet child. 
So that my soul may be snatched up 
And whirled into the bosom of God? 

— James Mahoney. 

Dead — but the death was fitting: 

His life, to the latest breath. 
Was poured like wax on the chart of right. 

And is sealed by the stamp of Death! 

— John Boyle O'Reilly. 

So when a good man dies. 
For years beyond our ken 
The light he leaves behind him 
Shines upon the paths of men. 

— James Russell Lowell. 

*They only the victory ivin. 
Who have fought the good fight, and have vanquished 
The demon that tempts us within; 
Who have held to their faith unseduced by the prize that the 

world holds on high; 
Who have dared for a high cause to sufier, resist, fight, if need 

be, to die. 
Speak, History! who are Life's victors? 
Unroll thy long annals, and say. 
Are they whom the world called the victors — 
Who won the success of the day? 
The martyrs or Nero? The Spartans who fell at Thermopylce's 

tryst. 
Or the Persians or Xerxes? His judges or Socrates? Plato 

or Christ? 

— William Wetmore Story. 

Retrospect 

Thus passed, in James Mahoney, a rare character. The story has 
been told of victories over diflBculties, in his pubUc and professional 
career, when he was in sight of all men, by those who knew of it. 
There is, however, as is true of all men, the intimacies of the family, 
the charm of social hours, precious to all who shared it, but too sacred 
to be rudely unveiled. 

It would be a pity, however, to leave unsaid a lesson to be drawn 
from incidental sidelights, which, like fossils in the memory, can 
indicate to the sympathetic 'eye the color and form of what is holy 
remembrance to those who were with him at his ease at home. 

* The above quotations were found in James' pocketbook after his death. 



170 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

There is, for example, at the very end, his pastor, Rev. Robert J. 
Johnson of South Boston, who came at the very first breath of the 
dread news from the West to console the stricken sisters. From that 
on, the church portion of the funeral arrangements was entirely taken 
over by the pastor. It was no light task for a busy clergyman, for 
this was a semi-public funeral, with a great concourse of mourners 
from many walks in life. 

He was "an ideal parishioner" observed the pastor, which would 
explain, perhaps, why this pastor would not only relieve the family 
of all concern in the church arrangements, but would go to the grave, 
sixty-eight miles away, at the risk of his own life (he was in feeble 
health and died three months later) to pay the last full tribute to 
the departed. 

Rev. Owen McGee's grief for his friend had to find an outlet at 
once by getting in touch with the sisters (by telephone, as he lives in 
Springfield), and his most consoling words are still ringing in their 
ears. 

Again there was President Dakin of his class at Amherst, a lawyer 
who rushed away while on vacation, without a thought of delay, and 
stayed by the family until they could resume in some measure their 
normal routine. His care, thoughtfulness and tactful sympathy 
endured in the ensuing years, a living help in sorrow. 

A friend of long standing was Basil Gavin who gladly devoted a 
large measure of his time in the final days to aid the Mahoney sisters, 
although at the time struggling with family sorrows of his own. 
This is a test, indeed, of friendship. 

There was in the midst of the last rites, a hitch about train arrange- 
ments to North Brookfield. At once James J. Phelan, the banker, 
cleared the way. He ensured the stopping of an express train at East 
Brookfield, the rail connecting point, and a special train to North 
Brookfield for the funeral party. It was a stroke of friendship at a 
time when such things count. 

Many years back when his sister Mary was ill to the death for more 
than a year in North Brookfield and James was busy in Boston, he 
was never too busy to miss the run to the old home to stay over 
Saturday and cheer his sister. Every week in the long waiting he 
sent her flowers and choicest fruits from Boston. Who shall say that 
such unremitting devotion did not lighten another's burden? 

At the beginning of his sister's sickness he began the study of 
medicine. His close study of medical books combined with his 
closer study of his patient enabled him to do much to relieve her 
sufferings. 

A curious and somewhat important incident grew out of his remark- 
able fondness for his mother. This fondness for a mother is, of 
course, nothing unusual in a son, but it led Mahoney to install a 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL " 171 

telephone connection between his Boston home and that of his 
mother in North Brookfield. This was the first "farmer fine" of the 
telephone, which has since grown to enormous dimensions. 

Out of this Mahoney line into the country came a great number of 
subscribers on farms there, and a telephone official said, "It was a 
revelation to him to find that farmers cared anything about a tele- 
phone, and that it revealed a new and wholly unexpected field of 
enterprise. 

"James often said to me," says his sister Nellie, "when I would tell 
him about some difficulties that beset me, *Be true to mother 
and father and do what they would want you to do and things will 
come out all right.' 

"James and his mother were boon companions. I think he never 
really got over the shock of her death. He parted with her in the 
old home in the country about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, in 
apparently good health. 

"He called her upon the phone in Boston about 6 o'clock, which 
was his daily custom, and I had to tell him that she was passing away. 
He secured an auto as quickly as possible and took great care to 
enquire about the auto and was positively assured that the machine 
was in excellent condition in every way, and capable of going twice 
the distance without further attention, and started for home. The 
machine got to Worcester. New batteries had to be secured and 
the chauffeur was then positive that the machine was in perfect 
condition. 

"They started on and the machine worked beautifully until they 
were going up Leicester hill when it began to slack up and, as they 
neared the center of Spencer, it suddenly stopped. The chauffeur 
discovered that the gasolene was all out. It was now about mid- 
night. He tried to secure a team but failed. Fortunately a late 
street car came along, and he covered the rest of the distance in 
that. 'I couldn't telephone,' he said, 'as I couldn't take a minute 
for that, I wanted to reach mother.'" 

Mahoney delighted in the old days, in talking over farming methods 
with his father and many summers he did all the machine work in 
haying. His own pursuits took him away from the farm in planting 
and harvesting time. 

But the business of farming had a fascination for him, that made 
his stays at the North Brookfield home, when his father lived, rare 
occasions for both of them, and he endeavored to visit home on an 
average of once a month. After his father's death he went home every 
week, regardless of the weather, until they closed the old home and 
his mother went to live with him. 

Another phase, hardly expected in one so exclusively academic in 
his own work, was his skill as a machinist, which made him a decidedly 



172 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

useful man on the farm during the summer haying. He was the first 
one to buy a corn harvester in that section of the country. 

It may be mentioned here that before he was injured he was not 
merely an active child but, for one so young, a remarkable athlete, 
jumping, vaulting and running in a way far beyond his years. 

In recreation his tastes ran to croquet playing, driving, swimming, 
boating and fishing, and he had some experience on the deep sea. 
He was good at all of these. 

There is something pathetic in a note written on the back of his 
instruction ticket in the Brookline swimming pool: "The last lesson, 
December 20, 1897, I swam 40 feet on my back, tied hand and foot." 

While studying in Berlin, he joined a tennis club. He could not 
play tennis but he had a passion for exercise, even to merely seeing it. 

Of the more sedentary amusements, chess and whist were favorites. 
He was a skilled player at both games and took a high intellectual 
pleasure in them. 

He was an omnivorous reader. He always had a book by him and 
it never surprised the family to see him carry one to the dining table. 

Concerts were hardly in the category of amusements with him, as 
he took them very seriously, but he was indefatigable in attending 
them. He had given considerable time to the study of music, both 
vocal and instrumental. 

Art museums were nearer an amusement, but he devoted much 
study and reflection to what he saw. Natural history was almost a 
passion with Mahoney and lectures on such subjects were a sure 
attraction for him, but he was too busy for much field work. 

"A day or two before James left he made this remark to us, 'I have 
never done anything that I conscientiously felt was not right. And 
I owe my start in life to the home influences which were the very best 
for honesty and study.' He felt that success should be won by hard 
work and honorable conduct and abihty to do the work." 

Mahoney was deeply interested in what is called the "teacher- 
mother" movement, a somewhat abstruse educational question, but 
illustrating Mahoney's intense zeal in furthering improvements in 
teaching methods. Without pretending to even attempt a complete 
definition, "teacher-mothers" do for their own children, on a general 
scale, what a few noted mothers have done remarkably well; using 
their unequalled opportunities with their children, in the most 
impressionable years; also of course, availing themselves of their 
greatest intimacy and influence to educate their children themselves. 

Three or four such women have attained astonishing results. A 
Pittsburgh girl was a veritable marvel at such ages as 8, 10, and 
12 years. Out of this was founded a league, now of world-wide 
influence, that is systematizing this home teaching and attaining 
remarkable results. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 173 

A passionate love for children was probably also a determining 
cause of Mahoney's interest in this movement. The founder of the 
Teacher-Mother League, Miss Ella Frances Lynch, of Bryn Mawr, 
Pa., throws an illuminating sidelight on this phase of Mahoney's 
character. Speaking of his share, necessarily small but gladly given, 
in developing this home teaching, she observes: "I find it hard to put 
into words the glimpses I had of rare, fine qualities in your brother. 
He was so interested in human beings. The crowded city streets, the 
busy corners seemed to him constant reminders of the work from 
which he never permitted himself to rest, — the great work of making 
this world a better place for the poor, the unfortunate and the little 
children." 

Said Alfred S. Roe, principal of the school, Mahoney taught in 
Worcester : 

"When the school had in hand the memorizing of the 'Watch on 
the Rhine,' in its native German, Mr. Mahoney produced, one day, 
to the evident admiration of the entire school a fine rendering of the 
German classic in superb English. 

"As far as the school was concerned, Mr. Mahoney could have 
remained indefinitely, but ambition for higher attainments possessed 
him and he left us for work in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. 
It has been a great pleasure to follow him in his Boston work and to 
know of his success. 

" In calling upon him, once in his apartments, I found he had ever 
kept up a thorough training, physically, and the arm that he submitted 
to my inspection was worthy an athlete. The last time that I remem- 
ber seeing him was in the assembly hall of St. Ann's Parochial School, 
where, at the invitation of Rev. Doctor McCoy, the Rector, he gave 
a most illuminating address concerning the influence of the Catholic 
church. Some of it unconscious, on the poetry of the great literary 
lights of the British people. 

"Little did I think that it was to be my last meeting with a man 
who, in the order of nature, should have survived me many years. 
I am glad, however, that I am permitted to express in this manner 
my regard and appreciation of an exceedingly capable and cultured 
teacher." 

One friend speaking of Mahoney said, "His presence was a benedic- 
tion." Another, "He was a king among men." 

His classmates summed up another view, in their tribute to the 
departed: "In our class relationship," quoting from a joint tribute 
at the time of his death, "which has enriched our lives he grew more 
and more tolerant and sympathetic with those who perhaps saw as 
through the clouds about its base, the heights upon which he dwelt. 
The force of his character was cumulative and we cannot but regret 
that it could not have rounded out into the fullness of its promise." 



174 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

An abiding love of animals, had its roots, perhaps, in the trait that 
made him so sure in dealing with children. 

The characteristic was innate. It was almost full flowered in his 
boyhood, when he could people an old cellar near his home with 
beautiful fairy beings, so dear to childhood, and keep his sister en- 
tranced for hours with his stories of eyrie doings there. The icicles 
are recalled as becoming fairly alive to the young and wonder-working 
imagination of his younger playmates. 

The last tributes at his home brought many touching evidences of 
reverence, for one who was essentially a very private type of man. 
The flowers alone were eloquent in their really amazing quantity. 
His last rest in his own home was amid veritable banks of most beauti- 
ful blossoms. They poured into the house to the very last minute. 

The key to all this is not far to seek. It was a real interest and 
sympathy with others; a genuine eagerness to do for them, even in 
slight matters; an unfailing willingness to make the path of others 
smoother, their lives brighter; to multiply their fortunate moments; 
to soften the blows that come to all, as far as possible. His very life 
breath was the glory of service. 

Requiescat in Pace. 

James W. McCoy. 



CHAPTER IX 

Weep, ye who sorrow for the dead. 

Thus breaking hearts their pain relieve. 
And reverenced are the tears ye shed. 

And honored ye who grieve. 
The praise of those who sleep in earth. 
The pleasant memory of their worth. 
The hope to meet when life is past. 
Shall heal the tortured mind at last. 

— Bryant. 



But friendship in its greatest height 
A constant rational delight 
On virtue's basis fixed to last 
When love's allurements long are past. 

—Swift. 



Not for thyself we weep — 

Too early fallen asleep. 

Before the dust and footsore of gray time 

Had wearied thee, and dimmed day's golden prime. 

For thou hast won the race 

Where longer lives do vainly sue for place; 

And evermore thy memories belong 

To native land and song. 

But for ourselves, who ne'er again may know 

The hand's strong clasp, the smile so sudden bright. 

The cheery voice, the sunny eye's delight — 

Alas! what use the haunting truth to flee — 

'Tisfor thyself we grieve, and only thee! 

— Mary Elizabeth Blake. 



There is no death! What seems so is transition; 

This life of mortal breath 
Is but a suburb of the life elysian. 

Whose portal we call death. 

— Longfellow. 



176 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

How could he rest? even when he trod 
The threshold of the world unknown; 

Already, from the seat of God, 

A ray upon his garments shone; — - 



Shone and awoke the strong desire 

For love and knowledge reached not here, 

Till, freed by death, his soul of fire 
Sprang to a fairer, ampler sphere. 

— Bryant. 



Yet all may ivin the triumphs thou hast won. 
Still flows the fount whose waters strengthened thee. 

The victors' names are yet too few to fill 
Heaven s mighty roll; the glorious armory. 

That ministered to thee, is open still. 

— Bryant. 



Tributes from Friends 

There was a flood of warm tributes to the character of James 
Mahoney sent to his family at the time of his death, some of which 
are given herewith. 

Concord, Mass., 
September 9, 1915. 
Dear Ladies: 

While I should regard it as a privilege to accept your invitation to 
your esteemed brother's funeral on Saturday, and you are quite at 
liberty to use my name as one of the pall-bearers, yet the hour is so 
early that I fear I could not, from this distance, and at my advanced 
years, arrive in time for the duty. 

I had depended on meeting him again, and talking with him on 
those interesting experiences of his, in this country and abroad, which 
he mentioned in our too brief conversation here. 

But this is a world of disappointments, of which I have had my 
share, and of regrets that must be unavailing. Believe me that I 
sympathize with you in this bereavement, and that I am most truly, 

Yours faithfully, 

F. B. Sanborn. 

The Misses Kate and Nellie Mahoney, 
South Boston. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 177 

My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I can only write of Mr. Mahoney with such regret as I would 
experience by a loss in my own family. His death has left for me, 
and I feel sUre for others who have known him, a void, which time is 
only enlarging. The craving for his company, his fellowship, his 
advice, grows stronger instead of diminishing, because it was some- 
thing that cannot be replaced. 

Mr. Mahoney's friendship was ideal. There were no limitations 
to its bounds. His conception of the duties, the consideration of 
friend for friend were infinite, or rather, as he might have put it, 
the pleasures of giving to one's friends were boundless. For it was 
for him to give, and he did, lavishly and unstintingly. Not that his 
duties allowed him to see even his intimate friends very often, but 
the feeling, the bond that unites was there, and if he could but assist 
or guide, or advise in any way, his friendship knew no bounds or 
measure, his time, his talents, his friends were yours. I am not 
optimistic enough to feel that such a friend can come twice into a 
man's life. 

Mr. Mahoney was one of the broadest men I have ever met. I 
think it was the first time I met him, a gentleman of a foreign 
nationality was present, and in his conversation alluded to some 
incident in his country's history. The topic offered opportunity for 
discussion, Mr. Mahoney entered the conversation, and I listened 
with surprise as I heard him discuss with detailed knowledge episodes 
in the history of this ordinarily little-known state. It was a significant 
incident, introducing me to the wonderful mass of knowledge that he 
had accumulated, and that always seemed ready at hand, and never 
forgotten. My conversations with him were always of the very 
keenest interest to me. The detail that he possessed was wonderful, 
but it never in any way clouded or obscured his grasp of a subject 
as a whole, or the broadness or tolerance of his viewpoint. I recall 
so many interesting conversations, when it was my privilege to hear 
Mr. Mahoney's views and opinions on some of the subjects in which 
he was interested. I remember his explanations of business-law, his 
clear-cut definitions of the schools of philosophy, his interest in 
certain works of art. We attended the opera together, and his knowl- 
edge of music at first surprised me as much as his translation for me 
of some of the text of II Trovatore one evening, before I knew that 
he read Italian, as he did German and French, and Greek and Latin. 
It is needless to recount, however, for his friends were aware of the 
wonderful breadth of his learning, as well as the broad calm view- 
point he took of it all. 

But I might say that perhaps I was brought more in contact with 
Mr. Mahoney along business lines, than were many of his friends. 
We talked business, because I relied on his business advice and judg- 

13 



178 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

ment. I remember our meeting a business-man at a trade-dinner, 
and after the dinner was over, he gave me an estimate of the 
man in his own judgment. It was very much at variance with the 
common estimate, and especially at this particular banquet where 
the man in question was among friends. Within two years Mr. 
Mahoney's estimate and prophesy was proved correct, to the extreme 
surprise of many associates of this man. 

I would like to emphasize one point. Although possessed of such 
a grasp of detail as he had, Mr. Mahoney was absolutely removed 
from what some might call the "school-master" type. He knew the 
subject he was teaching well, all will admit, but I now recall with 
surprise, that in the years I knew him, he never once touched on the 
subject of "English," and there were so many other subjects that 
were discussed between us that, except for certain specific books on 
which I questioned him for an opinion, we never touched on literature. 
Either intentionally, thru a desire not to "talk shop" or because of 
the multitude of other subjects at his command, Mr. Mahoney 
never mentioned the subject which, during the years when I knew 
him, he was specializing in. 

I shall always remember an automobile trip we took together to the 
Brookfield country. I shall never forget his enthusiasm as we neared 
his own old country. His extreme delight in pointing out to me all 
the sights and points of interest. We drove beyond the towns, and 
up Coy's Hill, where he showed me the panorama of the whole beauti- 
ful country, and with what loving interest, and enthusiastic loyalty, 
he showed me each familiar spot. Then we went down, and across 
to where he was born in Hardwick, and then back to the dearest spot 
for him, his own home in the hills. We had luncheon on the hillside, 
up beyond his house, overlooking a beautiful stretch of country, and 
the love and appreciation of this man, for his home, and for nature in 
her beauty, was to me a mark of his own greatness. 

He loved his home, and his family, and his friends. His respect 
and admiration for his parents was as beautiful as his care and love 
for his sisters. I have tried to express his feelings towards his friends. 
His students too shared in the warmth and kindness of his nature. I 
have been at his house, when he was rushed and harassed with the 
work of two schools, and have seen him go downstairs and listen to 
some yoimgster's tale, as if he had no other worry in the world, and 
then cheer him, with kind words of comfort and advice. I have seen 
him take his time and go out of his way, to meet a boy's parents, in 
order to make some suggestion, or give some word of warning. Then 
when the boy had finished school, and was unsuccessful in finding 
work, I have seen Mr. Mahoney again call on his time, and see that 
the boy was well started before he left him. And then I have seen 
him, time and again, stopped in the street by some successful business 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 179 

or professional man, and thanked with the most profound gratitude 
for the part he had had in making their success. For this, indeed, 
was his life's work. Disappointments were his, and bitter ones to a 
man so straightforward, so fair, but if the success he earned and 
deserved had only been allowed him, it would only have meant an 
enlarging of his influence for good. It was the pupils who were the 
losers. To those who came in contact with him, and worked with him, 
he gave all he had, if his position and authority had been increased 
as was so well deserved, this influence would have only been so much 
broadened. He sought neither honors nor influence for himself, 
for Mr. Mahoney was a practical idealist. He idealized his work. 
For him, it was a glorious calling, and he threw all his enthusiasm, his 
talents, his life into his work, realizing practically his idealism for 
those with whom he worked. Such, indeed, is the real call of teaching, 
to instruct, yes, but to do far more, to guide, to help, to advise, to 
take a real interest in the young, to feel a real moral responsibility, 
to even fill the place of a parent, when the parent is weak or wrong, 
such is the call of teaching idealized, and such a teacher was James 
Mahoney, a light in that calling, the like of whom it will be hard to 
find again. 

To you, Miss Mahoney, his sister, we who have lost him as a friend 
can only offer our sincerest sympathy, for your loss of him, as a brother. 

Sincerely yours, 

Basil Gavin. 

Dr. Thomas F. Leen 

19 Bay State Road 

Boston, Mass. 

Mr. James Mahoney, of rugged honesty and fair-play, held a 
peculiar position in the schools of Boston, which he so passionately 
loved. Probably the greatest scholar among its teachers, a depart- 
ment head in English, the first student in his class at Amherst, a 
post-graduate at Johns Hopkins and the University of Berlin, a 
lawyer and an authority on international law, a fluent conversational- 
ist of several languages, and a practical believer in sabbatical years 
for the welfare of his pupils, with such qualifications it may easily 
be seen how he was intellectually head and shoulders above his 
colleagues. 

This ability should have brought prompt promotion but instead 
brought envy, jealousy, and prejudice from his colleagues, and made 
him a marked man to be destroyed by any means, fair or foul, by 
those seeking similar promotion. Many times he had told me about 
the unfair methods used against him, and while I was a member of the 
School Board an instance arose which substantiated his statement, 
and was jocosely passed over by the other members of the Board. 



180 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

He was a distinct loss, and his persecution was one of the factors of 
shortening his life, Boston thereby losing one of its staunch citizens. 

Thomas F. Leen, 
Member of the School Board, 1911-191Jf. 
October 10, 1916. 

Wednesday. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

Since your message came Sunday evening I have been able to think 
of little else. Your brother's untimely passing is inexpressibly sad 
and I feel very deeply for you and for your sister. From the days in 
English High — now twenty-two years ago — ^when as a boy of fifteen 
I first came under his influence I always counted him my steadfast 
friend, and I owe to him much more than I can possibly put in words. 
His splendid courage was an inspiration and that wonderful fidelity to 
the best that was in him made him a man it is good to have been 
permitted to know. I shall honor his memory as long as I live. 

It is heart-rending, I know, not to have been able to console his 
last hours; he so often and in little imobtrusive ways made plain the 
warmth of his affection for his sisters — and there will come the blank 
and the numbing reaction that will be hard to bear. 

In days to come his fine spirit will grow for you; it will be a light 
that cannot be taken away. 

If I can be of any possible assistance, Saturday or another day, I 
beg you not to hesitate to call on me. 

With sincerest sympathy to you both, I remain. 
Yours very truly, 

George G. Wolkins. 
West Roxbury. 
8th September. 

69 Bay State Road, Boston, 
September 7, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I am most sorry to hear of the death of your brother for whom I 
had a very high regard. I extend to you my deepest sympathy. 

If it will please you I shall be most glad to act as an honorary 
pall-bearer. When you know the exact day and hour of the funeral 
service will you kindly have some one telephone my secretary. Miss 
Taylor, 271 Back Bay, or to the Harvard Club to me personally. 
With warmest regards, I am, 

Sincerely, 

Herbert S. Johnson. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 181 

Extract from another letter: 

"I have always regarded Mr. James Mahoney as a man of excep- 
tionally fine character. A number of my friends and I were so much 
impressed by his sterling honesty that we considered asking him to 
run for mayor of Boston within the past ten years. We had never 
given up the project. It is entirely possible that if Mr. Mahoney 
had lived, he might have been the nominee for mayor within the next 
few years." 

St. Patrick's Rectort. 
MoNSON, Mass. 

September 7, 1915. 
Dear Friends: 

The shocking news of your brother's death was learned this morning 
with the deepest regret. 

James Mahoney was a great man and those whose good fortune it 
was to be well acquainted with him, knew him to be both humble 
and kind. The Catholic circles in and around Boston have good 
reason to mourn his loss, for it has been their conviction that he had 
been of late years a real power in their midst, 

I am sure you are proud of your close relationship to him. His 
greatness and goodness will make your cross the heavier to bear, but 
be grateful to God for having given you such a brother, and let your 
prayer be "Thy will be done." 

May he rest in peace. 

With the deepest sympathy for you both in your hour of sorrow, I 
beg to remain, 

Your dear friend, 

James Donahue. 

53 State Street, Boston, 
September 7, 1915. 
Miss Katherine a. Mahoney, 

South Boston, Mass. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

Your note of September 6 came to me as a sudden sad surprise. 
When your brother was last at the ofiice he told me of his intended 
trip to the Fair on the Coast, and I pictured him as enjoying a trip 
in the West. 

It is now a time when I know only too well how little can be said 
to comfort you, but in the words of a hero of 1915 I know he found 
death "the most beautiful adventure of Life." 

Very sincerely, 

Joseph J. Heard. 



182 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

24 Brookdale Street, Roslindale, Boston. 

September 12, 1915. 
Dear Madam: 

Although a stranger to you personally, I want to tender my pro- 
found sympathy in your great affliction. 

My acquaintance with your brother began in the old North Brook- 
field days, as boys together, when we learned chess and talked 
philosophy, even then. Our paths led apart and we were both middle- 
aged when we met again, but for the last 20 years, we met fairly 
frequently and they were red letter days for me. He had become, of 
course, a learned educator, but for me he was the old time "Jim" 
Mahoney. 

It is a saddening reflection to me to recall my last meeting with him. 
There came to me then the resolve that, come what would, the chance 
of renewing with firmer and more attentive care the lifelong acquaint- 
ance would not go unimproved. 

I was prepared with what appeared to me to be some useful hints 
on his proposed work, when, in the midst of it all, came the news from 
the West. It came almost like a blow of fate. 

Yours very truly, 

James W. McCoy. 
To Miss Kate A. Mahoney, 
72 G Street, South Boston. 

Homer Albebs 

Counselor-At-Law 

Sears Building, Boston 

August 10, 1916. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 
North Brookfield, Mass. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

On my return from vacation I find your letter. Of course you may 
publish the letters from Mrs. Albers and from me, if you care to. 
Mrs. Albers and I both had a high appreciation of the ability, courtesy 
and friendship of your brother, James Mahoney. I felt very keenly 
his loss. If there is anything I can do for you, or if you desire to have 
me write anything further, I will gladly do so. 
Sincerely yours, 

Homer Albers. 

Georgetown Universitt 
Washington, D. C. 

February 20, 1917. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

Pardon this belated acknowledgment of your letter, but extra 
retreat work must serve as my apology for the delay. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 183 

Make whatever use you please of my remarks about your dear 
departed brother. 

He was a thorough man, endowed with the fine qualities of intelligent, 
sterling manhood; he was a thorough teacher, gifted beyond the ordi- 
nary with the power of communicating knowledge to others, while 
he also possessed a rare patience and a deep sympathy with the 
youthful aspirant after learning; and he was a thorough Christian, 
holding firmly and practically by those lofty moral principles which 
build up the highest type of upright manhood. 

Very sincerely, 

Thomas I. Gasson, S. J. 

Formerly President of Boston College. 
Boston, Massachusetts. 



National Conference of Catholic Charities 
Office of the Conference Secretary 

Catholic University, Washington, D. C, 
November 3, 1915. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I was deeply grieved yesterday when I learned of your brother's 
death. I send you the assurance of my sympathy and of the hope 
that James has found his assured peace in God. I know that you 
will bear this sorrow with obedient grace, in the conviction that our 
peace is found only in the will of God. 

I met James for the first time when we were fellow students in 
Berlin. He impressed me then as a man of ideals and character. 
When I met him here after many years, during which we were out of 
touch, I found the same evidence of force and purpose, the same 
sympathy for others and the astounding determination that enabled 
him to overcome obstacles that would have discouraged most men. 
I shall pray for his happy repose and remember him with admiration. 
Very sincerely, 

W. J. Kerby. 

Rev. James Todd, D. D. 

821 East Broadway, 

Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church. 

South Boston, Mass. 
September 27, 1915. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney. 
Dear Madam: 
It is with great regret I have learned of the death of your dear 
brother, and my friend, Prof. Mahoney, of our High School. I 



184 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

would have added to the company that honored him finally by attend- 
ing his funeral, but absence from home, and illness prevented me. 
I beg to express for you my strongest sympathies in your bereave- 
ment, and may the Holy Spirit of the living God comfort you. 

He is not lost, but gone before to await all true believers in Jesus, 
and we shall meet together in His Holy Name. 

Cordially yours, 

James Todd. 



Department of the Interior 

Bureau of Education 

Washington 

September 20, 1915. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

72 G St., South Boston, Mass. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I am greatly shocked at the news of the deathof Mr. James Mahoney. 
I saw him several times in Oakland and had luncheon with him once 
or twice during the last week in August. At that time he was looking 
very well and showed signs of being refreshed by his vacation and his 
visit to the West. 

Permit me to express my sympathy with you and other relatives of 
Mr. Mahoney in your loss and grief. 

Yours sincerely, 

P. P. Claxton, 
Commissioner. 

Dr. Clarence J. Blake. 

226 Marlborough Street, Boston. 
August 28, 1916. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I am glad to have an opportunity to express my appreciation of 
the privilege I had in knowing your brother and therefore of having 
with me the memory of his earnestness in behalf of what he believed 
to be the right, his scorn of trickery or self seeking and that courage 
of conviction which would not let him rest until by tongue or pen he 
had done his part toward furthering that which was best. 

Sincerely yours, 

Clarence John Blake. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 185 

Carnegie Institution of Washington 
Department of Historical Research. 
J. Franklin Jameson 
Director 

1140 Woodward Building 
Washington, D. C. 
October 12, 1915. 
My dear Madam: 

You are right in thinking that I had not heard of your brother's 
departure, and I thank you for the notification, I am sorry to hear 
that he has gone. I had known him slightly for many years, and 
last winter, while he was in Washington, had better opportunities of 
seeing him. I appreciated his high ideals, his unselfishness and public 
spirit, his intelligence, and his constant courtesy, and can well under- 
stand how grievous the loss of such a brother must be to you. 
With my most cordial sympathy, I am. 

Very truly yours, 

J. F. Jameson. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 
72 G Street, South Boston, 
Massachusetts. 



Dear Miss Mahoney: 

No one could have known your brother without appreciating his 
unusual qualities of mind and heart. 

His interest in his friends and acquaintances was extraordinary 
and I remember being so much impressed that afternoon, when I sat 
with you in a box at the Castle Square Theatre, looking out over that 
great crowd of school children, with his knowledge of and interest in 
them all. 

I am glad to have you say that he "wishes" you to ask me to write 
this note, as it shows that you are not left alone, that you still have 
with you the consciousness of his presence. 

Thanking you for remembering me, I am, 

Yours most sincerely, 

Alice McClure Burr. 
Milton. 

August 18, 1916. 

104 Kingston St., Boston, Mass. 
September 8, 1915. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I am very sorry indeed to learn the sad news of your good brother's 
death in Colorado. I had very great admiration for his splendid 
qualities, and his masterly ability, and feel sure that he will be 



186 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

missed, not only by his family, but by a large number of friends, and 
especially so amongst those associated with the teaching profession. 

In answer to your kind request, will say I will be present on 
Saturday morning to act in the capacity to which you refer.* 

Assuring you of my sincere sympathy, I remain, 

Respectfully yours, 

T. B. FiTZPATRICK. 
* Mr. Fitzpatrick was a pallbearer. 

Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

72 G St., South Boston, Mass. 

Yale University 
The School of Medicine 

24 Lincoln St., New Haven, Conn. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I thank you for letting me know of the death of Mr. Mahoney. 
Among all my teachers, in school and college, he was one of the two 
or three who influenced me most deeply. I shall always remember 
him with gratitude and affection and I beg you to accept my deep 
sympathy in your bereavement. 

Sincerely yours, 

C.-E. A. WiNSLOW. 

Mr. Allen Ripley Foote, President 
National Tax Association, Columbus, Ohio. 

315 LiNwooD Ave., Columbus, Ohio. 

October 22, 1915. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

72 G St., South Boston, Mass. 
My dear Madam: 

I have yours of the 17th giving me the very sad and unexpected in- 
formation that Mr. James Mahoney died in Colorado on September 4th. 
This deprives me of a pleasure and satisfaction I have been antici- 
pating for some time by expecting to meet him and have many 
conferences with him, on subjects of mutual interest, in Washington 
the coming winter. 

He commanded my respect and I believe he had the respect and 
confidence of all who knew him. I can understand the regret at his 
departure of all of his many relatives and friends, when they realize 
that he is not to return in the form by which they knew him, but that 
does not deprive us of the society of his mind. 

I thank you for having remembered, in the hour of your grief, to 
write me regarding him. 

Sincerely yours, 

Allen R. Foote. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 187 

Wm. Knowles Coopeb 

1736 G Street, N. W. 

Washington, D. C. 

October 26, 1915. 
Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 

72 G St., South Boston, Mass. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

Your letter to our Mr. Johnson duly received. I am genuinely 
grieved to know of the death of your brother. 

Your brother came to Washington bearing a letter of introduction 
to me from our mutual friend, Mr. Orr. A friendship immediately 
sprang up which to me was most instructive and helpful. We fre- 
quently met at the Cosmos Club and found many common interests. 

Washington is such a busy and transient city that, while I missed 
your brother, I did not seek to know the reason of his absence from 
the city. 

It was very thoughtful of you to write and tell the sad news. Will 
you please accept on behalf of the Association and myself personally 
our deepest sympathy in your bereavement. 

You have the very great satisfaction of knowing that your brother 
lived a useful, honorable, and pure life. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Wm. Knowles Cooper. 



The Hillside 

Waltham 
Massachusetts 

August 28, 1916. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I value the memory of your brother, and I valued his friendship* 
because I always found him interested in the realities of things as 
compared to the artificialities and conventionalities that make up 
the mental and spiritual equipment of so many well-meaning people. 
Because of this inherent sincerity of character he was frank and out- 
spoken in his hatred of evil, which is the necessary accompaniment of 
the love of good. He was merciful to the weak, but a pronounced 
enemy of all weakness, and this gave him the power, in his relations 
with men as well as children, to "strengthen the weak hands and 
uphold the feeble knees." I think of uprightness and loyalty to his 
own principles and convictions as the keynote of his character. He 
was incorruptible. 

With high regard. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Arthur A. Carey. 



188 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, 
September 9, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I am greatly shocked and grieved to learn of the death of your dear 
brother and my good friend, Mr. James Mahoney. I extend to you 
my deepest sympathy in the hours of your bereavement. Your loss 
is very great, and those who knew him well can appreciate this the 
more. He was a splendid character, a most lovable man and a loyal 
friend. His death is a distinct loss to the community, especially to 
the young people of Boston. 

I greatly regret that I cannot attend the funeral and act as one of 
the honorary pall bearers. You will understand, I am sure, that my 
desire would be to do so if it were possible. 

Sincerely yours, 

H. C. Bentley. 
Boston University 

Boston, September 7, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

I am very grieved and shocked to learn of your good brother's 
death. It seems but a few days since we saw you that Sunday at 
your house, and though I had not seen him since, I had felt in touch 
with him, thro' his telephone messages and hearing of him thro' my 
sister, and it was always a pleasure to talk with, or hear from, him. 

I had intended last winter to try to see him in Washington, but my 
trips were few and I never did it, which I regret now more than ever. 

My mother and sister were both terribly shocked to get your message 
this morning, and my mother asked me particularly to express her 
profound sympathy to you and your sister. My sister will doubtless 
write you. 

I am so glad, and it must be so great a satisfaction to you both, 
that your brother had his vacation year and passed it as he wished to, 
and also that he had the California trip and received the honors to 
which he was so richly entitled. 

He was loved and honored by all who knew him, and though his 
life is so sadly shortened, if measured by his good deeds and achieve- 
ments as compared with most men's lives, it shows fullness and 
completeness. 

With sincerest sympathy, believe me. 

Very truly yours, 

Tim. W. Sprague. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 189 

Cleveland Park, Washington, D. C, 
September 8, '15. 
Miss Kate A. M. Mahoney, 

Boston, Massachusetts. 
Dear Madam: 

I am simply heartbroken over your information concerning the 
death of your dear brother, Mr. James Mahoney. I feel the bereave- 
ment so deeply that I cannot resign myself to the thought of never 
seeing again in life a friend who has won the heart of everyone who 
was privileged to know his sterling qualities of soul, of character, 
of intellect. What a loss to you, to me, to the cause of justice and 
righteousness ! 

Only yesterday I wrote him a long intimate letter on his publication, 
for the U. S. Bureau of Education, to the University Club, Boston. 
I beg you, when sorting his correspondence later on, to return it to 
me after reading. 

His golden soul, his true big heart, his holy wrath at all injustice, 
baseness, calumny of individual or race has endeared him to all the 
new friends at the Cosmos Club, as if he had been ours for an age. 

I shall be with you in heart and thought on Saturday during the 
solemnity, and ever the splendid friend, the excellent man will be 
unforgotten. 

If I ever may be of service to you, his sister, please do not hesi- 
tate to command me. 

He is with God, and we shall ever feel his blessed presence. Ruhe 
sanf t, Friede seiner Ashe ! Pia anima salve! 

May God console you! 

Very respectfully yours, 

Herman Schoenfeld, 
Professor of Germanics. 
George Washington University. 



401 Bunker Hill St., Charlestown. 

Miss Nellie M. Mahoney, 
North Brookfield, Mass. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

First of all accept a rather belated acknowledgment of the studies 
you were good enough to send me and which represent, I presume, 
the last serious work your brother James was ever able to do. 

They manifest the same painstaking care, the mastery of detail 
and comprehensive grasp of the subject as a whole, which always 
characterized his endeavors in his chosen field, as far as I knew it. 

I need hardly say to you how sudden the shock, or how poignant 



190 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

the grief of those who had labored with him here in Charlestown, 
when the news came to us that James Mahoney was dead. 

When last we had seen him, his life seemed so full of promise, that 
it was difficult for us to understand that he was no more. 

A shining mark has in truth departed, and we mourn with you in 
the loss of one who stood always in our minds as a high type of a 
kindly, scholarly and courteous Christian gentleman. 

Since his death I have thought of him often as one fulfilling to the 
letter the ideal of the poet when he said: 

"E'en as he trod that day, to God 
So walked he from his birth, 
In simpleness and gentleness 
And honor and clean mirth." 

May he bring you comfort and peace. 

Sincerely yours, 
Dr. John F. O'Brien, John F. O'Brien. 

Member Catholic Literary Union. 
June 27, 1916. 

1463 Beacon St., Brookline, Mass., 
December 4, 1916. 
The death of James Mahoney removes from the educational world 
one who possessed the ability and intelligence of the college trained 
man combined with the charm and courtesy of the travelled man of 
the world. Such representatives of the teachers' profession are all 
too rare in this day of commercialized talents and inelegant diction. 

Baroness Rose Posse. 

It was with deep regret that I learned of the sudden passing of 
James Mahoney. Knowing him for many years, I learned to 
appreciate his devotion to high ideals, to noble principles and loyalty 
to his family. 

He impressed me as a man of wide intelligence and fine linguistic 
ability. 

Wm. T. Strong. 
Boston. 

December 3, 1916. 

Oakwood 
Perkins Street 
Jamaica Plain 

September 7, 1915. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

We were dreadfully shocked by the sad news of your brother's 
sudden death, and my thoughts are with you every hour, knowing 
what a great sorrow and loss has come to you. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 191 

We indeed feel it in our measure, having lost so good a friend, but 
I cannot feel that he is far away, and to dwell on his many virtues 
and what he was to the whole community is a great consolation. 

We were looking forward to seeing him after our long absence and 
now we must look still further forward — to another world. 

Will you have the great kindness to let us know, when you are able, 
of any funeral service that we could attend. He was so good to my 
children that they would like also to go. 

You will not think it presumptuous that we should grieve with you 
— and offer our deepest sympathy in the losing of one of the best 
Christians I have ever known. 

Yours most sincerely, 

Elizabeth Ward Perkins. 
Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I am sure that I can do no better than to say how cordially I 
endorse all that my wife has written you about your brother. 

He was indeed a man whom any one would have been proud to be 
associated with and I wish I could have been more with him in his 
work and he in mine. 

Hoping we will see you when we return to Boston, 
Very sincerely yours, 
July 24, 1916. Charles Bruen Perkins, 

Wentworth Mansion 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire 

Dear Miss Mahoney: 

I was surprised and shocked to get your word about the passing of 
our friend and worker, James Mahoney. 

I came across, today, a letter from him, in which he spoke of going 
to Colorado, and I was wondering if he had got home by this time. 

I have been, for many years, associated with Mr. Mahoney in the 
work of the Public School Art League, which he was so deeply 
interested in, and kept alive in the face of careless and ill-sustained 
support; and I learned to respect him very highly, for the stout and 
chivalrous fight which he kept up. 

It was Mrs. Henry Whitman whom I heard characterize him as a 
"Knight of Old" — and indeed he was that. 

He had, we all knew, the courage of his qualities of worth and pur- 
pose; but the qualities carried on the small league year in and year 
out, until its fruits could be counted with real satisfaction and some 
pride. 

I am pleased to be asked to render to him the last token which you 
ask me to join in.* 

I am 

respectfully yours 
September 8th, 1915. J. T. Coolidge. 

* Mr. Coolidge was a pallbearer. 



192 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

West Roxbury High School, 

Boston, October 8, 1915. 
The Misses Mahoney, 

72 G St., South Boston, Mass. 

Chere Mesdames: 

The English Council desires, through its Secretary, to express its 
sympathy for you in the great loss you have sustained in the death of 
your beloved brother. 

May the record of his scholarly achievements, the sympathy of his 
associates, and the testimony of his friends comfort you in your 
sorrow. 

Sincerely yours, 

Mary I. Adams, 
Secretary of English Council. 

Whereas, We, the members of the South Boston Citizens' Associa- 
tion, have with profound sorrow received the sad intelligence of the 
death of James Mahoney, master of English at the South Boston 
High School; be it 

Resolved That, by his death, this community has lost one of its 
most respected citizens and gifted educators, — and this Association, 
one of its most beloved members; be it further 

Resolved That, yielding to the will of Him who orders all things for 
the best, and whose acts are conceived in mercy, we desire to attest 
our appreciation of his faithful and distinguished service, and to 
record our love and esteem for one who was a true teacher, a good 
citizen and a loyal friend; be it further 

Resolved That these resolutions be spread upon the record of the 
Association, and that, in token of our sympathy, a copy hereof be 
forwarded by the Secretary to the sisters of the deceased. 

James E. Pray. 
Henry J. D. Small. 
Michael J. Mahoney. 

Hyattsville, Md. 
My dear Miss Mahoney: 

It is with great sorrow that we have just heard of the death of your 
brother, Mr. James Mahoney. 

While Mr. Mahoney was in Washington we had the pleasure of 
knowing him and growing very much attached to him. Word of his 
death came as a great shock to us all. 

Mr. Mahoney and my little ones had become great friends. They 
had such delightful times when Mr. Mahoney was out here with us 
and again at their "party" as Mr. Mahoney called a visit we made to 
him in the city. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 193 

I, indeed, wish to express my deepest sympathy to you and your 
sister in your great bereavement, for we all realize your loss is a very 
great one. 

Sincerely, 

Isabel Van Dunster Ryan. 
(Mrs. W. Carson Ryan.) 

Sketch of the Life of a Great Scholar 

As one enters the East Boston High School he sees a number of 
casts of famous works of art. These casts were placed there a few 
years ago by the Public School Art League, which has expended 
$25,000 in this work for the schools. The League was organized and 
kept in existence for twenty years by the late James Mahoney, a 
teacher in the schools of Boston for twenty-six years and a man of 
remarkable ability. A short sketch of his career will be of value to 
the scholars of the High School and to East Boston people generally. 

James Mahoney was an exceptional man. He was a great scholar. 
He was a master of all the languages. He could speak French and 
German with the fluency and freedom of the native. He had mastered 
Greek and Latin, and his friends know that when school supervisors 
were preparing examinations in these languages to determine the 
eligibility of candidates for the teaching staff not infrequently did 
they ask him to prepare the papers. But this was nothing unusual 
for his great gifts were always at the disposal of others as in the case 
of a mayor of Boston whose inaugural message received much favorable 
comment for its treatment of educational matters, which was prepared 
and written for him by James Mahoney. His knowledge of English 
was complete. As a writer his style was clear, simple and vigorous. 
As a speaker he was fluent, logical, eloquent. In conversation he was 
delightful, a valuable contributor to every discussion, his sparkling 
wit lighting up his erudition and making it seem the simplest of things. 
Not alone was James Mahoney exceptional in the languages, he also 
knew the sciences and was expert at mathematics. He was also 
versed in all branches of the law, and was a member of the Massachu- 
setts and Federal Bars. In short he excelled in every field of intel- 
lectual effort. 

Personally James Mahoney was one of the most charming of men. 
He was gentle and considerate of others. He was always remembering 
the landmarks in the lives of his friends with some little courtesy. 
He was loyal to his friends. He was a man of strong opinions, but 
deferential to those of others. His chief characteristic was a passion 
for truth. He was all charity for the man whose limitations were 
responsible for his inability to see or admit the truth upon any given 
issue, but he had no patience for the false leader or the man of pre- 
tentions who wilfully misleads for private or corporation profit. He 

14 



194 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

could never restrain his disgust for the mediocrity which seemed to 
dominate invariably the schools of Boston. Much of this he knew was 
placed in power by book companies or interests seeking a vicious 
control of education. He had nothing but contempt for the man who 
secured school preferment through book company influence or other- 
wise, save only for scholarship. Of course such a man as James 
Mahoney was without favor in circles that controlled school adminis- 
tration, and his transcendent ability was generally ignored in favor 
of the trimmer and the sycophant. 

But if the petty crowd that ran the schools of Boston would not 
give James Mahoney that power and control which his great gifts and 
accomplishments entitled him to, and which would have benefited 
the children of the masses beyond measure, there were others who 
were always glad to have his assistance. At the request of the 
Charlestown Catholic Literary Union he drew up a course of study 
and hired the teachers for its business school. He gave unstintedly 
of his time after his duties daily in the South Boston High School; 
indeed, there is little doubt that his efforts in this work weakened his 
robust health. In his four years of administration of the school he 
had the satisfaction of seeing its membership increase from seventy 
to nearly five hundred. During this time he heard the writer express 
the wish that such a school would be a good thing for East Boston. 
Forthwith he volunteered to help establish a school here, but his kind 
offer had to be declined because of the strain it meant for him. The 
year 1915 was a sabbatical year, and he spent it at Washington making 
special studies for the National Bureau of Education, some of which 
were printed by the Government under the titles, "Advancement of 
the Teacher With the Class"; "American Citizenship in the Educa- 
tional Surveys"; "Some Foreign Educational Surveys." In the 
summer he went to Oakland to speak before the National Education 
Association, and while returning home died at Colorado Springs from 
acute indigestion, his strength undermined by his unremitting, 
intellectual labors for others. 

A brief resume of James Mahoney 's education will have great value 
for high school students, showing that study, hard study is necessary 
for commanding leadership. 

James Mahoney was a teacher in the Worcester High School for 
three years, a teacher in the Boston English High School for nineteen 
years and a teacher in the South Boston High School for seven 
years. During these long years many thousand students attended 
his classes. It is the simplest and best tribute to say that they all 
respected him for his sterling character, for his great learning always 
at their disposal; and that they hold his memory in deep affection. 

James E. Maguire. 



CHAPTER X 

Summary of Work in Washington 

Nowhere was James Mahoney's bent more in evidence than in a 
series of monographs produced as a special collaborator of the United 
States Bureau of Education. It must be said at the outset that 
they are not popular reading; were never intended to be, in fact. 
They are all intensely technical, dealing with problems that are of a 
real universal interest, but with which few people other than teachers 
concern themselves, or perhaps the larger body of people known as 
educators, in the sense of students of pedagogic questions — as school 
committee persons of the earnest type; parents who take more than 
a perfunctory interest in their children's education. For all that, 
these monographs are exceedingly good reading, to one who can 
do a little digging. 

Among the more elaborate of these productions selected to illus- 
trate this particular phase of readability is one entitled "Some 
Foreign Educational Surveys." The subject-matter is to summarize 
in a handy form, the data and conclusions reached in surveys of school 
systems abroad — a survey of the surveys — for the benefit of American 
teachers. Not all of the expected readers can read the surveys in the 
original language. Few can even get them to read. Quite a few 
have no knack of wading through the enormous bulk, usually, of 
these surveys, to get what they want. It is clear that if some one 
who can read these mines of information in the original; who, more- 
over, is supplied with a great many, probably most of the good ones; 
being a government official who in addition has some art of extracting 
in a brief and suggestive form what the American teacher desires to 
know; there is something more than merely compiling. 

Mahoney did all of those things and delighted in the work, but he 
did more. Punctuating the often, to the average reader, dry-as-dust 
data offered, will be found gems of comment, incisive and illuminating, 
like the sotto voce remarks of a listener at a lecture, say. For example 
in reviewing foreign surveys, he presents somewhat fully those made 
in England. Among others "surveyed" were the ragged schools of 
London, where an attempt is made to educate the little waifs of the 
British metropolis. After presenting enough about ragged schools 
to give a fair idea of what they are, Mahoney observes: "It is note- 
worthy that advanced ideas of instruction were tried out first on the 
children of the very poor, presumably because their parents would 
not object." To one who knew Mahoney, this would come as a very 



196 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

characteristic comment. He delighted in sifting out the nub, often 
kept in the background, of an argument. In a private conversation, 
he would almost surely extend the above by observing that England 
always tried out everything on somebody before trusting the idea; 
usually on people who couldn't or wouldn't object. 

Speaking in general of these surveys, Mahoney points out that 
in Europe, they are, as a rule, made by the central government and 
their conclusions carry the weight of governmental authority and are 
conclusive in the schools. Continuing, Mahoney observes: 

"Even a slight examination of these reports will reveal the reason 
for the governmental interest in surveys; namely, international 
industrial competition, and the disclosure of the fact that industrial 
progress is dependent upon education. 

"It is interesting in this connection to note that the American 
survey movement, and the efforts to reorganize American schools in 
industrial and vocational ways, are coincident with a realization by 
the people of the United States of the wonderful progress made by 
Germany in vocational education, and her consequent advance in 
international industry and commerce." 

Mahoney's work on the subject was done practically during the 
first year of the war, being published by the government on Sep- 
tember 10, 1915. 

The general character of all the monographs may be gathered from 
the letter of transmissal of the one on foreign surveys by the Federal 
Commissioner of Education, P. P. Claxton, addressed to the secretary 
of the interior at Washington. He writes: 

"The large sums paid for education in the United States, the large 
proportion of the population enrolled in public schools of lower or 
higher grade, the feeling that the public welfare and private weal alike 
depend upon the eflBciency of the schools, the demand that at least 
all schools supported by public taxation shall be constantly remodeled 
and readjusted to meet the needs of modern life, and the keener spirit 
of criticism produced by a more general study of the principles and 
methods of education, have all contributed to the interest in educa- 
tional surveys of State, county, and city school systems and surveys 
of individual institutions of higher learning. 

"Between forty and fifty such surveys, more or less formal, have 
been made in this country within the last few years, and many others 
have been planned. Like everything connected with public education, 
the principles of the survey are universal. Wherever made, the 
legitimate purpose of the survey is to bring about a more economic use 
of money and equipment and a better adaptation of educational 
agencies to educational needs. 

"Therefore educational surveys and investigations in other countries 
have a vital interest for students of education and education officers 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 197 

in this country. For this reason I requested Mr. James Mahoney, 
head of the English department in the South Boston High School, 
Boston, Mass., and a special collaborator in this bureau, to prepare a 
brief account of some of the more important foreign surveys. 

"This he has done with much care and with such thoroughness as 
the available material would permit, and has embodied the results in 
the accompanying manuscript. I recommend that the manuscript 
be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education." 

Perhaps as an example of what Mahoney's survey of a given survey 
is, there may be cited what he culled from a French report made in 
1899 on the secondary schools of France. It is as usual in France, 
the work of a governmental commission, headed by M. Ribot, which 
raked up every fact it could trace and published the results in six big 
volumes. What they found is perhaps of no special interest to that 
tremendously careless person, the "average reader," but the conclu- 
sion of the commission, has something more than an academic interest. 

"Less uniformity, less bureaucracy, a little liberty" is the general 
demand made in the commissioner's report, speaking of the French 
secondary schools. 

"There is no life in the secondary schools because they lack real 
autonomy; the system suffers from over centralized administration. 
The head masters have responsibility, but no initiative; the junior 
masters are not respected; Latin has received too much attention. 
France has no lack of learned men, but it does lack engineers and 
men of affairs. 

"It is outclassed by Germany in this respect; not that the classical 
course should be suppressed, but it should not be the exclusive kind 
of education; it should not prevent young people who have talent 
for practical affairs from receiving suitable instruction. 

"Attendance at the lycees and the colleges does not increase. The 
increase in cost of attending them has had something to do with this. 
Religious causes have also been at work. The state should respect 
the right of the individual to choose the instruction that he wishes 
for his children, but it must use all legitimate means of influence to 
get such instruction to conform to certain standards. 

"The course of study suffers from uniformity. The modern world 
has an entirely different social and economic basis from that of the 
ancient world, and yet the dead languages continue to be the substance 
of our education. In this there is injury as well as danger, individual 
and national. 

"Science has become of vast importance, and history and modern 
languages demand a place. Of course, we cannot dispense with 
Latin, for it is the mother of French; and Roman life has contributed 
much to modern French life; and yet it is necessary to prepare for 
modern conditions." 



198 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

"It is not necessary to overburden the pupils with too many new 
topics at the same time; a more rational method of teaching must be 
adopted; a better arrangement of subjects, according to the age and 
attainment of the pupils, and a proper utilization of their time. 
Besides, there are too many changes of teachers. The same teacher 
continued two or three years, with one set of pupils, can accomplish 
much more than is at present the case. 

"Statistics prove that most of our graduates are headed for govern- 
mental positions. This is a grave danger. It is necessary to avoid 
it by preparing our young people for the other necessary occupations," 

It will be safe to venture, that nowhere in the whole six volumes, 
probably very anxiously considered by the French commissioners, 
was there a more illuminating passage than the foregoing. It will be 
noted that the passage is no mere rhetorical flourish of a single educa- 
tor, but the utterance of the French government, fifteen years in 
advance of the greatest war in history, with France fighting for its 
existence. It would be interesting, even to many who are not educa- 
tors, to learn how France heeded the warning. 

In a report on his sabbatical leave ill February, 1915, Mahoney 
wrote to the Boston superintendent of schools, from Washington: 
"Judging that the educational surveys would be of great value in my 
research, I have gathered what I presume is the most complete collec- 
tion of surveys that exists and I am now examining them, with the 
above object in mind." His reference to the "above object" was to 
the studies reviewed herewith. 

Another monograph by Mahoney is entitled "Advancement of the 
Teacher with the Class." It is obviously a severely professional 
question, which outsiders may well leave to the elect — whether in say 
six years of going to school the pupils shall always have the same 
teacher, or shall have six during the period, each teacher being rooted 
to one grade. 

Commissioner Claxton was opposed to the latter plan, though it is 
the plan said to be in vogue in the large majority of American schools. 
The commissioner caused an extensive inquiry to be made on the 
subject, largely by a questionnaire among superintendents of schools 
and among teachers. Replies were received from 813 superintendents 
in 46 states and from 97 teachers in 12 states and 18 cities. The 
superintendents were asked for opinions on four questions. There 
were about two dozen queries to each correspondent in addition. 
The teacher had a more detailed program. The mere statistics of the 
questionnaire indicate a need of a summary, within reach of the aver- 
age mind. 

This Mahoney did handsomely. The result is extremely good 
reading, provided the reader can follow so very technical a question. 
To the person of any curiosity in a professional matter, the summary 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 199 

of what those 910 people thought on the topic, usually quoting actual 
experiences, is exceedingly attractive. 

"American Citizenship in the Educational Surveys" is another 
study by Mahoney on a subject of more general interest perhaps than 
the foregoing. Here again it was Mahoney's task to digest a vast 
mass of material, in the form of surveys, that is practically inaccessi- 
ble to most people, even to teachers; yet it is of more than professional 
interest, that children in the United States should be trained in Ameri- 
can citizenship. Mahoney wrote himself on this phase, in 1913, 
somewhat before President Wilson tried to instruct European powers 
in what America was: "Keen vision and searching analysis are prob- 
ing every phase of public life. The spirit of America is awake. 
With renewed conviction of her mission in the world, she looks for 
facts, and seeks to square her conduct with her conscience." 

As might be expected, such a question among a lot of instructors 
provoked a wide variety of opinions. For example, the annual 
problem in most cities of selecting a school board is one thorny phase. 
The fact that knowledge of school matters is rather a disqualification 
for the office of school committee does not deter many teachers from 
urging that the schools should, above all things, be taken out of politics. 
Some of the respondents rather ruefully observe that taking the schools 
out of politics is impossible in the United States and urge the next 
best thing — get people of at least average intelligence on the school 
boards. Indeed, there is a lot of good, though fragmentary reading, 
in this necessarily scrappy monograph. 

It was a subject, always very close to Mahoney's heart, particularly 
that question of politics in the schools; of "pull" rather than compe- 
tence, determining a teacher's fate. Even an enumeration of the 
questions raised by the apparently innocent title of the production is 
too long to have a place here. 

A few may be taken at random, as indicating what thoroughness 
can do in developing a subject; and Mahoney was thorough. For 
example: the appointment of teachers, the "pull" or competence 
phase; details should be left to superintendents; school buildings 
and equipment, which means a choice of expensive buildings so dear 
to the politician and his contractor friends or the relatively cheap 
equipment in a plain building, which of course would never do in 
politics; ventilation, as you cannot be a good citizen if brought up 
on bad air; industrial training; teaching of good English; fitting 
pupils for their life; training for practical work; increasing interest 
in farm life; training interest, initiative and ambition; training in 
thoroughness. The selection is of course inadequate as outlining 
the subject, but shows what features, hardly suspected by the out- 
sider, can be considered in dealing with the teaching of citizenship. 

The writer recalls one discussion, many years before these mono- 



200 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

graphs were written, or probably even thought of. It arose over an 
outsider's expressed wish that something of the methods of the old- 
time district school-teacher could be injected into the modern system 
of education. These old-timers may have had their faults, but they 
certainly did a great work well. 

They molded the characters of those who have contributed to 
make America great, even if some of their purely literary work was 
crude. Mahoney pointed out at the time the practical difficulties, 
though as near as can be recalled he admitted that there was some- 
thing about the old-district school-teacher that has gone, but was 
well worth saving. On reading his review of the results of advancing 
teachers with their classes, there seemed to be an echo of that old 
discussion; for the district teacher never taught in any way but 
advancing with her classes. Whether it is such an echo or not, 
Mahoney's aim is quite clear throughout — that the teacher should 
have the facts, and he gave the best that was in him to advance his 
noble vocation. 

James W. McCoy. 



CHAPTER XI 

Connection with Societies 

The following papers will give some idea of James Mahoney's 
activity outside of his regular work: 

M. P. Shawkey 

State Superintendent 

State of West Virginia 

Department of Free Schools 

Charlestown 

September 22, 1915. 
Dr. James Mahoney, 

South Boston, Mass. 
My dear Doctor Mahoney: 

I congratulate you on the excellent paper which you presented at 

the meeting of the Department of Superintendence at San Francisco. 

You have done a fine piece of work and when your report is published 

it will be of very distinct value to the educational forces of the country. 

Thanking you for the service rendered, I am 

Very truly yours, 

M. P. Shawkey. 

PARENTS' ASSOCIATION OF THE SOUTH BOSTON HIGH 

SCHOOL 

[Extracts from a Local Paper.] 

Opportunities for Young Men 

Business Men Talk to Parents — Chances Better Now than Thirty or 

Forty Years Ago 

One of the most interesting and instructive meetings ever held by 
the Parents' Association of the South Boston High School was that 
of last evening, in the high school assembly hall, when three men, 
each prominent in different fields of business and commercial life, 
addressed a large gathering of the members on the subject of 
** Vocations." 

It was the idea of James Mahoney of the faculty and chairman of 
the feature committee of the Parents' Association. 

Headmaster A. D. Small, president of the association presided, and 
the speakers were Thomas B. Fitzpatrick of Brown Durrell Co.; 
Henry J. Bo wen, a leading real estate man of South Boston, and 
Maurice M. Osborne of the Walworth Manufacturing Company. 



202 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

High School Parents' Association 

The Parents' Association of the local high school had a special 
meeting Thursday night in the assembly hall of the high school 
building, and a committee under the direction of the master, James 
Mahoney, arranged a delightful program to follow the business 
meeting. 

Mr. L. D. Gibbs of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company gave 
an address on "Efficiency in School Work," and Mrs. H. M. Garner, 
buyer for Henry Siegel Company, spoke on "How May Girls Succeed 
in Business." 

The second regular meeting of the South Boston High School 
Parents' Association proved very instructive for the members present. 

Mr. Mahoney, one of the teaching staff, who is much interested in 
the parents' league movement, and is a member of the Home and 
School Association, told of the great good to be derived from the 
frequent meetings of parents and teachers, that the bond of under- 
standing might be strengthened. 

Mr. Mahoney made a strong point of the necessity of sympathy 
between pupil and teacher, and to create that sympathy it was 
necessary to know in a measure the environment, and in that study 
of environment the home conditions were an important factor. 

He spoke also of the need of home study and encouragement, and 
of developing the special gifts in a pupil which would become apparent 
to the teacher by daily contact with the well-meaning pupil. 

Saturday, April 23, 1910. 

James Mahoney, instructor of English, gave interesting statistics, 
scanned from the report of the Commissioner of Education, comparing 
percentages throughout the country of the numerous high schools, 
the showing of the South Boston High School in its individual per- 
centage being very satisfactory. 

There could be no argument against the study of English, its 
necessity being quite universal, and the instructor clearly outlined 
that it was the small, every-day errors which prove the greatest 
problems to the teacher, the habits formed in speech, which were so 
firmly planted that it was necessary to get beyond the root of the 
habit in order to oust it from its permanency. 

Mr. Mahoney deplored the fact that while the high schools of the 
United States registered in the entering class over 75 per cent, there 
was but one-fourth of the pupils who completed the course; while a 
significant comparison of the figures showed that three-fourths of the 
high schools in the United States were maintained and attended in 
the commonly called Northern States. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 203 

Vital Interest to South Boston Parents 

A special committee of the Parents' Association of the South Boston 
High School, consisting of Mr. Joseph W. Whall, Mr. James P. Holland 
and Mr. James Mahoney, has been doing splendid work along voca- 
tional lines during the school year now drawing to a close. It has 
induced the association to hold evening meetings to secure the presence 
of the fathers, as well as the mothers, and it has furnished for the 
parents a most interesting series of programs, in which addresses on 
"Training for Success in Business" have been the leading feature. 
Many of the most prominent business men of South Boston and 
Boston have addressed these high school meetings. 

Included in the list of speakers are the names of Mr. George F. 
Lawley of Geo. Lawley and Son, Mr. James J. Murphy of Murphy 
Bros., Mr. Robert Bishop of the Bishop Mfg. Co., Mr. Grueby of the 
Grueby Faiance Works, Mr. Gibbs of the Edison Electric Illuminating 
Co., Mr. T. B. Fitzpatrick of Brown Durrell Co., Mr. Francis B. 
Sears of the Shawmut National Bank, and Mr. William E. Parker, 
treasurer of Library Bureau. 

This special committee now proposes to issue a circular to business 
men generally, asking them to help get positions for the boys and 
girls who graduate from our high school. 

We sincerely trust that the above mentioned committee will con- 
tinue its good work during the next school year. 

A circular letter prepared by the special committee to be sent to 
business men generally: 

South Boston, April 20, 1911. 
M 



We, the undersigned, representing the Trade Association of South 
Boston, and the Parents' Association of the South Boston High School, 
believe that your favorable consideration and kind reply to the follow- 
ing will result in the mutual advantage of all concerned. 

High school records show that many boys and girls leave school 
each year before the spring term ends in June, fearing that if they 
wait till school closes, they may not secure positions, as so many 
pupils will at that time be trying to obtain work for the summer. 

We, while wishing in no way to interfere in the securing of positions 
by any boys or girls at any time, feel that if you will advise such 
applicants to continue until the term ends, assuring them that what- 
ever positions you may have will not be open to pupils until July, 
such pupils will continue at school till the close of the term, and will 
be more likely to return to school the following autumn. For, if they 
leave school in April or May, as many now do, the chances are on 



204 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

account of the long break in school work that they will not return to 
school again. 

We are especially anxious to secure for our graduates, positions, 
which in the opinion of their teachers and parents, they are best fitted 
for. We believe that vocational training in the schools will result in 
bringing out the special talents of each pupil, will make pupils more 
valuable to their employers, and will cause parents to allow their 
children to take the full high school course. We trust that you will 
be sufficiently interested in this to favor us with suggestions as to 
what special training you consider that your employees ought to have, 
and also as to any other matters in this connection which may occur 
to you. 

We shall take the liberty of sending to you, about the first of June, 
a request in regard to what positions you may have open in the near 
future, which high school graduates might be able to fill. It may well 
be that you could now give us such information; it may also be 
that you would welcome interviews with a few of our students who will 
graduate in June. 

We shall be most grateful for whatever advice or information you 
may give us. 

Sincerely yours, 
James J. Murphy, 

President, South Boston Trade Association, 
Joseph W. F. Whall, 

Chairman, Special Committee of Parents^ 
Association of South Boston High School, 
Geo. Lawley, 
James P. Holland, 
James Mahoney, 



A sample of the program regularly furnished : 

You are very cordially invited to attend the exercises of the Parent's Association 
of the South Boston High School next Thursday Evening, April 20, at 7.30 p.m., 
in the Assembly Hall of the High School. 

Program 

1. Song, "Der Lindenbaum," Franz Schubert 

German Glee Club, conducted by Miss Bertha Vogel 

2. Address, "Preparedness for Business" 

Mr. William E. Parker, Treasurer of Library Bureau 

3. Piano Duet, Overture, "Poet and Peasant" Balfe 

Miss Mary C. and Miss Margaret A. Kent 

4. Address, "What Leads to Success in Manufacturing?" 

Mr. Robert Bishop of the Bishop Manufacturing Co. 

5. Soprano Solo, Selected 

Miss Alice M. Hagerty; Miss Mary C. Kent, Accompanist 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 205 

6. Address, "Elements of Success in Banking" 

Mr. Francis B. Sears, Vice President of the 
Shawmut National Bank 

7. "Die Wacht am Rhein," Karl Wilhelm 

German Glee Club, conducted by Miss Bertha Vogel 
P. S. A large attendance is very earnestly requested. 

James Mahoney not only secured the speakers but provided the 
entertainment also. 



SOUTH BOSTON TRADE ASSOCIATION 

The Trade Association of South Boston hstened in Bethesta Hall 
building, South Boston, at one of its most interesting and enthusi- 
astic meetings of the year to a most instructive address by James 
Mahoney, master of the local high school. 

Mr. Mahoney, who has made a study of this subject for the past 
eighteen years and is one of the most energetic of Boston's instructors 
was listened to attentively. He said in part: 

"Vocational training is educating a student along the lines which 
will serve him best in his life work. Vocational direction consists 
first in endeavoring to ascertain what work he will be best able to do 
and secondly, guiding him into that calling. About 18,000,000 
children crowd our public schools, and in all these millions no two 
children are alike and the circumstances and possibilities of no two 
are the same. 

"How shall we undertake to ascertain what their talents are and 
what their aptitudes may be for the different possible callings to 
which in life they might go? 

"To attain vocational direction perfectly is beyond human power 
but that is no reason why we should not strive toward an ideal. 
Most parents today seem to think they are incapable of guiding their 
children to a wise choice and they instinctively trust to the schools to 
select the studies for their training. The schools are beginning to 
doubt their wisdom and look to the parents for guidance. 

"One expedient that is being used is the so-called vocational card 
which should record all pertinent facts regarding the child on his 
first entry into school and accompany him from grade to grade with 
teachers' notes of his progress and efficiency and finally, when he 
leaves the system, stands as a summary of his school experience, to 
guide him and parents to a wisfe choice and also as an index for those 
who would employ him. 

"The vocational card will, indeed, mark tendencies and possibly 
permanent traits in character and in mind. It may indicate natural 
bias toward certain work or line of activity and an aversion to others. 

"The Trade Association, as an organized body, could be of very 



206 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

great service in encouraging pupils to stay in school until they are 
old enough and sufficiently well trained. 

" Could not the association help still further, while using the knowl- 
edge of the needs and business possibilities of this district to encour- 
age the establishment here of such lines of business activity as could 
develop to advantage and at the same time to encourage the growth of 
such allied vocational and continuation schools as would train higher 
grades of artisans and industrial leaders? 

"The greatest educational need of the day is to find suitable occupa- 
tion and training for the mass of our public school children between 
the ages of fourteen and twenty years when they have left school and 
are wandering aimlessly into over-crowded callings, I am convinced 
that, for most young people, the future will brighten and their moral 
earnestness and their attention to their studies will increase when 
they learn that every hour of the school days helps or hinders their 
future prospects." 

"What can business men of South Boston do? The races chiefly 
represented in South Boston are those that have been foremost in 
developing modern civilization in Europe and America, viz.: British 
(including the Irish, Scotch and English), and the Teutonic stock 
represented especially by the Germans and Scandinavians, and add 
to these the Slavic and Latin elements. 

This must be borne in mind, for if odium has been cast on this 
district it is due to accidental causes. In point of race, language, 
in family integrity, in capacity for sacrifice for offspring, in all the 
elements that go to produce a higher order of things. South Boston 
furnishes a most promising field. 

"The training and welfare of the children in the near future will 
mean the welfare of South Boston with all its business and social 
interests. 

" Business men can give advice and encouragement that will prove 
invaluable to parents, students, and pupils. Such advice will be 
welcomed, especially from those whom the pupils and parents regard 
as neighbors and friends and as having their welfare at heart." 

Training for Real Work 

South Boston Wants It in the Schools 

At a well attended meeting of the Trade Association of South 
Boston, held last evening in Bernice Hall, Broadway, South Boston, a 
unanimous indorsement and pledge of co-operation was given to the 
movement to advance vocational instruction in the high school of 
South Boston. This movement was started by the Parents' Associa- 
tion of the high school and the Trade Association, and aims at helping 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 207 

in every possible way the boyS and girls of the high school in choosing 
their future occupation. 

The report of a subcommittee of the Trade Association was made 
by James Mahoney, master of the local high school, and remarks were 
made by Mr. Whall of the Parents' Association. 

For the Committee on Vocational Training appointed at the 
previous meeting, Mr. Mahoney reported that the committee had 
met and considered "what can be done in a practical way to advance 
the interests of the community in the preparation of the pupils of 
the schools for their vocations in life that may seem best suited for 
them." 

He read a letter that had been drawn up by the committee and will 
be sent to business and commercial houses throughout South Boston 
and many large establishments of the city. 

This letter first explains the objects of the Trade Association 
regarding vocational direction, asking the co-operation of all business 
firms in making recommendations in writing regarding what is neces- 
sary for the proper equipment of boys and girls for business life, urging 
that suggestions be made, regarding what has generally been observed 
as the failings of boys and girls who enter such employment, whereby 
the schools may better train them for their future work. 



Egypt Exploration Fund 
Rev. W. C. Winslow 
Boston 

525 Beacon Street, 
June 20, 1895. 
Mr. James Mahoney, B. A., M. A., prominent in educational 
matters in Boston, interested in art and its history, is about to pass a 
year for study in Europe. If any of my University and archaeological 
friends will kindly greet him as a brother in the Arts, I shall be 
thankful, and they will find him a scholar, a gentleman, and a good 
fellow. 

Mr. Mahoney is a member of our University Club. 

William Copley Winslow. 



208 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Maryland Council of Teachers of English 

Willis H. Wilcox, President 

Maryland State Normal School 
Arthur F. Smith, Vice-President 

Lonaconing High School 
Andrew H. Kjug, Secretary 

Baltimore City College 
Louise W. Linthicum, Treasurer 

Annapolis High School. 

York Road and Gittings Ave., Baltimore, Md. 

December 26, 1914. 
Mr. James Mahoney, 

Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: 

I understand from Dr. Krub of the City College that you would be 
willing to attend our conference on oral composition on the evening 
of January 15, and give a fifteen-minute talk. We are planning a 
kind of symposium on the subject. I am enclosing a copy of our 
tentative program. 

I should be glad to have you begin the program with something in 
the nature of an historical sketch of the development of the subject. 
If you can be with us, kindly let me know so that your name will 
appear on our printed program. 

Yours truly, 

W. H. Wilcox. 



[Extract from a Worcester Paper.] 

Prof. James Mahoney Speaks on Tennyson's "Idylls of the 

King" 

Prof. James Mahoney, Boston, formerly a teacher in Worcester, 
addressed the Catholic Woman's Club, last night, on Tennyson's 
"Idylls of the King." The literature class, under the direction of 
Rev. Dr. John J. McCoy, has studied the poems. There was a large 
attendance. 

Prof. Mahoney said: "I shall consider that I am simply reciting 
in Dr. McCoy's literature class. I have given a little study to the 
Arthurian cycle, and I shall ramble on, hoping that you will interrupt 
with questions if you desire. 

"As a boy of ten or eleven, I began to read the 'Idylls' and I fell 
in love with them. Their meaning gradually began to work through 
my mind. Certain conclusions I drew. Recently I was gratified to 
find, looking through certain books, that others had drawn the same 
conclusions. 

"One thing is clear, the Arthurian cycle is Celtic and Catholic, 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 209 

therefore human. This old cycle is Celtic to the core, is essentially 
Catholic, and is, therefore, broadly human and not narrow. 

"There is a tendency to think that no literature, unless it be Anglo- 
Saxon, is worth much. The Encyclopedia Britannica, which is not 
any too greatly in favor of Celtic and Catholic things, makes the 
statement that the cycle has had an effect second to almost no other 
literary work. 

"Thomas Mallory's 'Morte d'Arthur,' is a source of the cycle. 
The poems in the 'Idylls' are Tennyson's greatest poems, the cycle 
his greatest work. 

"Its influence spread through France and Germany. Milton 
himself planned to write a poem on the Arthurian cycle. Tennyson 
developed these thoughts in their modern form. The poems are 
twelve, as you know. They are miniatures of life. 

"The first thought of Tennyson is to present human life as it is, 
real life, its concrete facts. 

"Beyond that, there is an interpretation that is, in the main. 
Catholic, and beyond that a symbolism." 

[Extract from a Worcester Daily Paper.] 

Professor Mahoney Speaks 

Boston Teacher Gives Address Before Catholic Woman's Club 

A large audience greeted Prof. James Mahoney, supervisor of 
English in the South Boston High School, last night, in Academy 
Hall of the Sacred Heart Academy, when he gave a lecture on "The 
Influence of the Catholic Church on English Literature," before the 
members of the Catholic Woman's Club. 

Prof. Mahoney is considered one of the foremost classical scholars 
and high school teachers, and was formerly a teacher in our classical 
high school, where he taught from 1884-1887. 

After leaving Worcester Prof. Mahoney took a year's course in 
pedagogy in Johns Hopkins University, and for twenty-two years 
taught the various branches in the English High School of Boston. 

He is versed in many languages. He passed one year in the Uni- 
versity of Berlin, and two years ago passed the bar examination of 
Massachusetts. 

Prof. Mahoney received a warm welcome to Worcester last night 
and there were many in the audience who remembered him as a 
teacher in the Worcester High School. He was introduced by Rev. 
Dr. John J. McCoy, founder of the club. 

Prof. Mahoney demonstrated that the Catholic Church has had an 
influence upon English literature from the earliest ages and, to illus- 
trate this fact, read passages from some of the works of the writers. 

15 



210 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

He said that the iBrst works of prose or poetry were written by clergy, 
as in those days they were the only men of letters. 

He said that the seven deadly sins played a prominent part in the 
early literature and that the doctrines of the Catholic Church were 
touched upon in all the great works in all ages. He followed down 
the line of writers of prose and poetry to the present day, analyzing 
their works to prove that they owed a debt of gratitude to the Catholic 
Church. 



[Extract from The Charlestown Enterprise.] 

Debaters Kill Death Penalty 

Capital Punishment Should Be Abolished, so Find Judges at 
Debate at Charlestown Catholic Union 

With the Hon. Joseph H. O'Neil, chairman, James J. Storrow of 
the Boston School Board, and Prof. James Mahoney as judges, the 
pros and cons of capital punishment were debated last evening at 
the Charlestown Catholic Literary Union by four young members 
before a large audience. 

The decision was unanimously in favor of the negative. 

[Extract from the South Boston Gazette, March 29, 1909.] 

The pupils of the English classes of Mr. James Mahoney, who is in 
charge of the English department of the local high school, have had 
several interesting debates this year. These debates are very 
interesting and are valuable to the students. Mr. Mahoney inaugu- 
rated them into the local high school and they have proven very 
successful. 

October 22, 1910. 
On Friday of this week, during the home room hour in the local 
high school, as many classes of the school as could be assembled were 
called to the Assembly Hall. The other classes held commemoration 
exercises in their own rooms. In the hall Mrs. Edwin D. Mead and 
Mr. James Mahoney, head of the English department, spoke fittingly 
of Mrs. Howe's life and character. 

Parents' Association of Lawrence School 

At the regular meeting of the Parents' Association of the Lawrence 
school, held last Monday evening. Dr. Herbert J. Keenan, president, 
presiding, there was a splendid and instructive address by James 
Mahoney of the local high school. His subject was "Vocational 
Training and Vocational Direction." 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 211 

1908. 

[Extracts from a Local Paper.] 

At the South Boston High 
Four-Act Play, " The Spy of Dorchester Heights," Given hy Class 

For the first time in the history of the South Boston High School a 
theatrical performance took place in the graduation exercises last 
night, A four-act play, entitled "The Spy of Dorchester Heights," 
was substituted for the customary valedictory, salutatory, class 
prophecy and oration. 

The production was written by members of the class of 1908, and 
the characters were impersonated by members of the graduating class. 

During the performance, "Dorchester Heights," a song written for 
the occasion by James Mahoney, was sung by Miss Mary L. Keys. 

The scene of the play was laid on Dorchester Heights during the 
trying times of March, 1776. It is based on the capture of Dorchester 
Heights and the evacuation of Boston by the British. The characters 
are all historical. The play was presented with historical costumes 
and scenery all complete. 

The preparations for the play meant a great deal of hard work. 
Mr. Mahoney gave a great deal of his time to the work. 

1909. 

The historic play which was presented at the local high school 
Wednesday proved to be very successful. The participants were 
warmly applauded for the manner in which they carried off their 
parts. The success of the play, however, was due to the efforts and 
assistance of the teacher who directed the performance, Mr. James 
Mahoney, head of the English department of the high school. 

Mr. Mahoney spared neither time nor money in making the play 
a success. Nearly all the rehearsals were held outside of school hours. 
The play presented was "King Lear." 

1910. 

With an audience that completely filled every inch of space in the 
local high school hall, a program of unusual excellence provided an 
evening of unusual happiness for many hundred people. 

The program opened with a march, followed by a chorus. Then 
there were original theses, discussion and class song, which was pre- 
pared and presented under the direction of Mr. James Mahoney, head 
of the English department. 

Mr. James Mahoney, who has had charge of the English department 
of the local high school for several years past, will again have charge 
of that, the most important department of the school. 



212 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

July 10, 1910. 
Peace Dream Is Coming True 

War Rapidly Declining Declares Mead — School Peace League Hears 

Prominent Men 

Miss Driscoll Wins in Arbitration Debate 

The American School Peace League met in Jacob Sleeper Hall, 
Boston University, at Boylston and Exeter Streets, this morning, in 
connection with the National Education Association convention. 
There was a large attendance. 

James H. Van Sickle, superintendent of the schools at Baltimore 
and president of the league, made the opening address. Edwin D. 
Mead of Boston followed. 

A debate on arbitration by six pupils of the South Boston High 
School was a novel feature of the meeting. 

"Resolved, That All International Disputes Should Be Settled by 
Arbitration" was the subject. 

James Mahoney, head of the school's English department, who was 
in charge, explained that each pupil had been hampered by lack of 
time in which to prepare his arguments. The debating, in spite of 
this handicap, proved praiseworthy. Each speaker gave arguments 
frequently advanced for and against arbitration, concluding with their 
own answers to their opponents. 

The assembly listened attentively to the six pupils, and when they 
concluded many words of praise were expressed for the able manner in 
which the debate was carried on. 

The board of judges was composed of President Jordan of Leland 
Stanford University; Rev. Fr. Gasson, President of Boston College; 
Professor Dutton of Columbia University; Mr. Edwin Ginn and 
Mr. Henry V . Cunningham of Boston . Professor Jordan complimented 
the debaters, and spoke at length on the excellent work of Miss Dris- 
coll. He said Miss Bateman deserved special mention for the manner 
in which she handled the subject. 

Elmer E. Brown, United States Commissioner of Education, pre- 
sented the beautifully cut, gold medal to Miss Driscoll. The medal 
was given by the Colonial Daughters, approved by President Taft. 

Mr. Mahoney was much pleased with the work of the debaters, as 
all did exceptionally well. 

72 G St., South Boston, Mass. 

July 14, 1910. 

Mrs. Andrews has asked me to write you an account of the debate 

which was given in competition for the Taft Medal for excellence in 

debate. This medal, I understand, was given through Mrs. H. Calvin 

Gage as President of the Society of Colonial Daughters, and I under- 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 213 

stand also that this is the first time that society has offered a medal in 
this way. 

Just before the close of school, in June, Mrs. Andrews asked me 
whether I cared to make suggestions in regard to the conference of the 
American School Peace League. I suggested a debate by school 
children. She answered that it was very late in the season to under- 
take a debate. I said that this was certainly so, but that I thought 
some of the pupils in my classes at the South Boston High School 
would be able to do it. So she told me by all means to go ahead and 
try. Because of the fact that there was so little time I relied upon 
my own judgment of the students in selecting the contestants, instead 
of having a preliminary debate to decide the matter. I selected 
Ruby W. Bateman, Regina I. Driscoll, Marie Lamb, John F. Conley, 
Jacob S. London and Edward L. Sullivan. I selected these students 
with some misgiving, for the young ladies had worked very hard 
during the school year, and the boys have to spend most of their time 
earning their living. However, the young ladies worked faithfully 
for the two weeks at their disposal, and the young men had to make 
their preparation the last three or four days before the debate. I 
feared that some of the pupils would break down because of this 
added work, and the great heat, but as a matter of fact none of them 
seemed to suffer especially on this account. 

The American Peace Society furnished us with a large number of 
pamphlets on the subject of arbitration, and the officials of the Boston 
Public Library deposited with me, for the use of these students, a 
large number of books on the history of arbitration, accounts of 
conferences, treaties and works on international law. The debate 
was held on the morning of Friday, July 8, in Jacob Sleeper Hall. 
The room was filled, there being present, I should judge, about six 
hundred people. The meeting was opened by President Van Sickle 
of Baltimore. He was followed by Mr. Edwin D. Mead, who spoke 
at some length on the general subject of arbitration. Professor 
Claxton of Tennessee was to have been called next, but, as he was not 
present, the debate was the next number on the program. It lasted 
from ten minutes past ten to ten minutes past eleven o'clock, each 
debater being allowed ten minutes in which to present the affirmative, 
the negative, and a refutation of the negative, of the question: 
"Resolved, That All International Disputes Should Be Settled by 
Arbitration." 

This form of debate was adopted, first, because the students would 
all have exactly the same opportunity, and, secondly, the occasion 
being a Peace Conference it would seem somewhat ungracious to have 
two teams, one defending arbitration, and the other defending war. 
And, thirdly, because each of the debaters is a sincere advocate of 
arbitration. At the close of the debate, President Jordan of Leland 



214 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Stanford University, speaking for the other judges (President Gasson 
of Boston College, Professor Button of Columbia, Mr. Edwin Ginn 
of Boston, and Mr. Henry V. Cunningham of Boston), said: "The 
judges agree, first, that this debate has been very excellent. Sec- 
ondly, they all agree that Miss Driscoll deserves the medal, and also 
that Miss Bateman deserves honorable mention for her especially 
fine debate. Then Mr. Elmer E. Brown, United States Commis- 
sioner of Education, presented the medal to Miss Driscoll. He spoke 
of the great beauty of the medal, and the high honor which was 
implied in its gift by your society, and bearing the name of the 
President of the United States. He trusted that not merely the 
rare excellence of the medal, nor the honor even, would constitute 
to the young lady the highest value of the prize, but that it would 
be to her an inspiration for future endeavor in so good a cause. 

James Mahoney. 



Boston Home and School Association 

Mrs. Quincy A. Shaw, President Robert Treat Paine, Jr., Treasurer 

Charles F. Dole, Vice-President Fannie Fern Andrews, Secretary 

405 Marlboro St., Boston, 
January 9, 1909. 
Mr. James Mahoney, 

72 G St., South Boston. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

The Executive Board of the Boston Home and School Association, 
holding its meeting yesterday, wishes me to thank you for your 
interest in the Committee on School Decoration. I should be very 
glad, indeed, if you would select the members of your committee as 
you think best, and when you have done so, will you please forward 
the list to me? As to the work which your committee will undertake, 
I am sure that your judgment will be most effective. 

Recalling our telephone conversation, I remember you spoke of the 
meeting of the Executive Committee of the Public School Art League. 
Probably you will talk this over with the members of that body, 
before you lay out work for the Home and School Committee. At 
any rate, I feel sure that the matter rests safely in your hands. 

After you have talked this matter over with your Executive Com- 
mittee, perhaps we might meet and consider work which might be 
done in connection with the Home and School Association. 
With kind regards, I am. 

Most sincerely yours, 

Fannie Fern Andrews, 
Secretary, Boston Home and School Association. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 215 

An Appreciation of James Mahoney 

I deem it a distinctive privilege to have been associated with James 
Mahoney. As chairman of the Committee on School Decoration 
of the Boston Home and School Association, he brought to that 
organization a clear vision of its functions as a civic factor, and 
through his devoted efforts much was done toward the realization of 
his high aim to stimulate interest in artistic and significant school 
decoration. His splendid ability for co-operation, not only with the 
officers and committees of the association, but with other influential 
bodies having similar aims, rendered him an invaluable member of 
the association. 

His conception of the socialization of the school plant and the 
specific relation of the home to the school indicated a broad under- 
standing of modem educational philosophy. A breadth of vision, 
combined with an intellectual grasp attained only through high rank 
in scholarly achievements, characterized his teaching and his many 
labors outside the schoolroom. It was a loss to the Boston School 
system when Mr. Mahoney severed his connection. 

Fannie Fern Andrews, 
President, Boston Home and School Association. 
405 Marlboro St., Boston. 
October 3, 1916. 

[Extract from The Boston Home and School News Letter, Vol. IV, No. I, Boston, 
Mass., November, 1912.] 

What May Be Done Toward School Decoration by 
Co-operation of Parents' Association 

South Boston High School, 
November 2, 1912. 

Mrs, Irving enquires what the Public School Art League could 
accomplish if aided by the co-operation of the various societies of the 
Home and School Association. 

My personal opinion is that it could accomplish a great deal more 
than it has in the past, provided that the assistance is given with 
patience, persistence and true insight. The task is not primarily 
executive. To bring reproductions of the great masterpieces of art 
to the school children, particularly to those who have least opportu- 
nity to see them, is the first object of the Art League. 

This requires great knowledge of art, good taste, good sense, a 
considerable amount of money, and some manual labor. The Art 
League has been fortunate in having some of those who are best 
qualified in matters of art to guide its work; it will be more fortunate 
in the future if it can continue to receive such guidance. The various 
societies could, I think, greatly help in these ways: 



216 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

(a) By means of lectures to get the parents, teachers and the general 
public to appreciate the objects of the league; 

(b) To further the same object by reports to the press, encouraging 
such work; 

(c) To help raise a general fund which would put the work of the 
league on a permanent basis ; 

(d) By explaining to persons contemplating the doing of such work, 
the peculiarly difficult nature of the task, and urging the guidance of 
an organization like the Art League be secured. 

This would help to safeguard us from artistic crudities; would make 
our schoolrooms more attractive places for the children; would 
stimulate the imagination, and help to produce a nobler people. 

James Mahoney. 

EDUCATIONAL COURSE— CATHOLIC LITERARY UNION 

James Mahoney, Director. 1909-1914 

"The secret of success is constancy to purpose." 

— Disraeli. 

The Catholic Literary Union School was first started in the fall of 
1909 with two instructors. The next year three instructors were 
necessary. 

At the close of the year the class in advanced bookkeeping requested 
and obtained an additional summer course in their special course. 

For the first two years membership in the classes was restricted to 
members of the Union, but at the beginning of the third year the 
educational committee voted to throw open the classes, free of charge, 
to all young men above the regular school age, irrespective of member- 
ship in the Union. 

The third year showed greater progress in number of instructors, in 
courses offered, in number of students attending as well as in the num- 
ber of those who received honors in their work, and above all the high 
standard of instruction was maintained. 

This excellent and progressive work at the Catholic Literary Union 
School has borne good fruit, not only for Charlestown, but in every 
section of the Metropolitan district. 

Similar movements, it is stated, have been started elsewhere. 

October 29, 1910. 
Professor Mahoney Will Assist 

Will Teach English on Friday Evenings in the Union Educational 

Courses 

Notable interest and activity prevails at the classrooms of the 
educational department of the Literary Union, the classes being well 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 217 

organized and the courses now fully inaugurated with every assurance 
of increased success for the school during the present term. 

Professor Mahoney of the English High School is to give an evening 
in English to the pupils, beginning his work last evening. 

November 5, 1910. 

Next Friday's Debate 

Professor James Mahoney gave a delightfully informal talk at the 
Literary Union on Friday evening of last week. The purpose of the 
meeting was to inaugurate a debating class. Edwin M. Hawkins and 
Frank Ahearn were elected as captains, respectively, on the aflSrma- 
tive and negative sides of the question, "Resolved, That the United 
States Government Should Subsidize a Line of Steamers to South 
American Ports on the Atlantic Coast." 

[Extracts from the Charlestown Enterprise, Saturday, October 14, 1911.] 

No project in the interest of the young men of the district launched 
in recent years seems to have met the general public accord as satis- 
factorily as the educational course established a year ago by the 
Catholic Literary Union and now entering upon its second term. 

The hearty local interest in the good work was especially evident 
in the large attendance and the enthusiasm at the opening of the course 
on Saturday evening. The parlors of the Union club-house were 
filled to the doors, and the array of fine speakers received a cordial 
reception and a very attentive consideration of their words of advice 
and encouragement. It was a big night for the Union and a bigger 
one for the local cause of education. 

President Michael L. Fahey made a felicitous address in opening the 
meeting, and pleasantly introduced Dr. John F. O'Brien, chairman of 
the educational committee. The latter spoke glowingly on the prog- 
ress of the work and the accomplishments of the last two winters, 
preceding his remarks by reading the following letter from Arch- 
bishop O'Connell, approving the work of the Union along educational 
lines: 

Dr. John F. O'Brien, 

Chairman, Catholic Literary Union of Charlestown, Mass. 
Dear Dr. O'Brien: 

I have received your letter of October 6th, together with the pro- 
spectus of the work the Catholic Literary Union of Charlestown pro- 
poses to do for its members. I am exceedingly happy to note the fact 
that a large body of splendid wide-awake Catholic young men are 
devoting themselves during their leisure hours to obtaining useful and 
necessary knowledge, whereby they may the better perform their 



218 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

daily duties and bring more honor upon themselves and upon the 
Church to which they belong, and as members of which they are 
constantly regarded by the world about them. 

You must all keep constantly before your minds' eyes that you are 
members not only of a literary union, but of a Catholic literary union, 
and that you should be imbued with the principles of your faith in 
your work during leisure hours and during the tasks set each one of 
you in your respective daily walks of life. 

I send you my hearty best wishes and I assure you of my constant 
affectionate interest in yourselves and your work, and I send my 
blessing upon you all. 

Very sincerely yours, 

W. H. O'CONNELL, 

Archbishop of Boston. 
Archbishop's House, Granby Street, Boston. 
October 7, 1911. 



Professor Mahoney of the educational committee outlined the 
studies for the classes beginning Monday under a highly competent 
corps of teachers. 

[Extracts from the Ckarlestown Enterprise, Saturday, October 14, 1911.] 

An auspicious opening of the second term of the Catholic Literary 
Union educational course is assured for this evening, when at the 
Union club-house. Monument Square, an array of brilliant lights in the 
oratorical world — all men of standing in the professions and in busi- 
ness — will speak to the members and friends upon matters of educa- 
tion and of work for young men. 

Judge Hugo Dubuque, of Fall River, comes direct from Rhode 
Island, today to be present at the opening of the educational course 
and will be the first speaker. 

The educational committee offers a decidedly practical line of 
courses, and hopes the members of the Union will not only join them- 
selves but will induce their friends to take advantage of the splendid 
opportunities. 

[Extract from the Charlestown Enterprise, October 26, 1912.] 

All was bustle and activity at the Literary Union club-house on 
Friday evening last at the formal opening of the evening classes, 
when students and friends gathered for the first event in the program 
of the winter activities. 

Professor Mahoney, as supervisor of the school, announced the 
program of the studies and in stirring words urged the boys not to lag 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 219 

in their efforts during the coming winter. The conditions under 
which they are to study are ideal ones, and the instructors are notable 
in educational circles as being unexcelled, each in his particular line. 

[Charlestown Enterprise, October 4, 1913.] 

Business Method Proper Training 

James J. Phelan, the vice-president of the Union, very generously 
volunteers to continue his important part in the work. Professor 
Mahoney will continue to serve as the supervisor of the school and 
Dr. John F. O'Brien is to remain at the head of the educational com- 
mittee. President Joseph E. Donovan and his colleagues in the 
board of government are giving their hearty co-operation and lending 
valuable assistance in the inauguration of the school session, and its 
continuance during the coming winter. 

Non members, as well as members and their friends, will be made 
welcome, for it is the wish of the officials in charge that the benefits to 
be derived from such courses may be distributed among those eager 
for an education. No fee will be charged, and all that is required is 
faithful attendance during the season. 

The curriculum will embrace studies along civil service lines, book- 
keeping, shorthand, accounting, etc., with lectures by leading business 
and professional men on business and similar topics, while debates 
have been arranged and courses in physical training are also to be a 
feature. Ladies will be admitted to the lectures. 

The Union course plans the best possible training for business and 
the best and quickest preparation for civil service. In the latter 
course all grades of civil service for positions with city, state and 
nation will be established, the unnecessary things left out and the 
essentials maintained. Business English, letter writing and business 
correspondence, business arithmetic, commercial geography, three 
classes in bookkeeping and three in shorthand, with accounting 
and auditing, economics and business law are among the solid and 
attractive features that any ambitious and studiously inclined young 
man must feel is a provision for education he cannot well resist, 
especially when the opportunities are actually thrown his way and 
at practically no personal cost, beyond the giving of time and effort 
on his part. 

The Literary Union building offers especial facilities for the school, 
while its location opposite the historic Monument in a most desirable 
residential section of the district and convenient to every part of 
Charlestown is an advantage that must be included in the estimate 
given of the desirable features and opportunities worth while when a 
young man is deciding to make a step for his educational benefit. 

It should be borne in mind that while members of the Literary 



220 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Union are taking these courses, there is plenty of room for outsiders 
and because a young man may have no affiliation with the Union it 
does not debar him from enrollment in the clajsses. On the contrary, 
the educational committee extends a welcome to all self-respecting 
young men to join the classes regardless of the fact that they may 
or may not be members of the Union. 

[Extract from a report by James Mahoney, October 5, 1913.] 

Another Busy Year Ahead 

The parent of Catholic evening schools in this city and state, the 
Catholic Literary Union of Charlestown, is preparing with renewed 
zeal for the fifth year of its fall and winter educational work. For the 
past four years this school at 5 Monument Square has steadily pro- 
gressed in numbers and in courses of study, but the prospects for the 
current term are brighter than ever. The school is free to all who are 
desirous of obtaining an education which will fit them for better posi- 
tions in the business world. 

The "fads" and "fancies" have never affected the classes in the 
institution. Practical training for definite objects has been steadily 
maintained and a most thorough training by the most competent 
teachers has been always insisted upon. There are alluring subjects 
which the Union might have presented, but its watchword has been : 
"A few essential things thoroughly done, rather than many things 
attempted." 

Lectures on important business topics by leading business men will 
be a more prominent feature of the school this year. 

James Mahoney. 

[An extract from the Charlestown Enterprise.] 

An auspicious opening of the Sunday afternoon lecture course at the 
Literary Union introduced, as the first speaker, Professor James 
Mahoney of the educational classes at the Union in a masterly address 
on " Business versus Socialism and Anarchism. " The speaker had an 
audience of bright young minds to appreciate his well conceived and 
finely presented views on this subject of vital importance. 

For two hours Mr. Mahoney talked to the deeply interested 
audience. 

[Extract from James Mahoney's report, 1912-1913.] 

Unusual Registration at the Catholic Literary Union 

With a preliminary registration of two hundred, and with a constant 
increase by new registration in prospect, each night this week, the 
walls of the old Union will be tested to the uttermost. Perhaps you 
may think that the students are just boys; but such is not the case. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 221 

Nearly forty-two per cent are over twenty years of age, sixteen per 
cent are twenty-five years or older, and several are nearly forty -five 
years old. 

It is very clear that the Literary Union has won the confidence of 
the people of Charlestown. 

Dr. John F. O'Brien, Chairman of the Educational Committee, 
presided, and introduced Mr. J. Randolph Coolidge, Jr., Acting 
President of the Chamber of Commerce and Past President of the 
Boston Society of Architects, who gave the first lecture of the eco- 
nomic series, which is being arranged by a committee consisting of 
Mr. James J. Phelan, the donor of the courses, and Mr. James 
Mahoney, the Principal of the School. 

[Extract from an article in The Pilot, October 11, 1913.] 

The Catholic Literary Union is the parent of the Catholic evening 
schools in Massachusetts. For four years it has successfully con- 
ducted a series of classes, which were marked by large attendance. 
It has steadily kept in mind the idea of giving practical and thorough 
training for definite objects by competent teachers. As a consequence 
very gratifying results have been achieved. The prospects of the 
school for the coming year are brighter than ever before. 

[Charlestown Enterprise, March 29, 1913.] 

Bishop Anderson Guest at Union 

Comes to Closing Exercises by Invitation of James J. Phelan — Educa- 
tional Work Praised — Certificate Awards to Students in the Various 
Departments — Preparations for the Fall Reopening 

General interest in the work of the educational classes at the Liter- 
ary Union was demonstrated by a large attendance at the closing 
exercises on Thursday evening. 

The parlors contained many representative men of the district, 
most of whom are members of the Union, and there was an array of 
speakers whose remarks carried effectively in the general estimate 
of this splendid work in which the Union for several years has been 
engaged. 

As chairman of the course. Dr. John F. O'Brien introduced the 
speakers in a most felicitous manner, and the following distinguished 
members of the clergy and laity gave enthusiastic commendation to 
the Union and its labors. 

Right Rev. Joseph G. Anderson, D. D., bishop of Boston, Rev. 
P. F. Cusick, S. J., Rev. John W. McMahon, D. D., Rev. James N. 
Supple, Rev. T. F. Leyden, Congressman William F. Murray and 
Professor James Mahoney. 



222 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

The classes complete the term with a wonderfully fine record for 
progress. 

Professor James Mahoney, director of the school, in his report very 
pertinently says : 

"We are sometimes told that it is difficult for business men nowa- 
days to obtain able and reliable employees; we, therefore, earnestly 
desire to call the attention of business men to the names of our stu- 
dents, whose ability, proficiency and good character are amply 
vouched for." 



[Charlestown Enterprise, March 28, 1914.] 

Governor Walsh Was at His Best 

Came Early and Stayed Late at the Literary Union Graduation — 
Notable Comyayiy Attended — Splendid Results Achieved by the 
Pupils During the Most Successful Season of the Evening School 

The closing exercises of the evening educational courses at the 
Catholic Literary Union, on Wednesday, were honored with the 
presence of the Governor of the Commonwealth and the remarks of 
His Excellency showed that he was highly gratified and deeply moved 
at the splendid showing made by the pupils. 

Preceding the Governor, Professor Mahoney, the director of the 
school, made an interesting and instructive analysis of the work done 
during season now closing. 



[Extract from James Mahoney 's report.] 

The attendance this year has been considerably greater than ever 
before; five hundred came to us the opening week. 

In regard to attendance, let me say that I strictly enjoined the 
teachers to exclude all pupils of such age as would make necessary 
their attendance at the public schools. Our aim has not been to 
compete with other schools but to be of service to those who would in 
any case not attend a regular school . 

The average age of our pupils has been considerably higher than 
ever before. We had many over thirty, and a considerable number 
over forty, and some over fifty years of age. The average age, I 
estimate at about twenty-seven. 

The teachers were also impressed with the fact that our students 
had a more clearly defined purpose and were more in earnest than 
heretofore. 

While giving class instruction, it was the aim of each teacher to help 
each individual student in every way possible — and this attitude of 
the teachers seems to have been appreciated. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 223 

[Extract from an article in the Boston Sunday Post, April 5, 1914.] 

Literary Union Is Prospering 

In the long history of the accomplishments of the Charlestown Liter- 
ary Union, an association which holds an enviable reputation among 
organizations of its kind in greater Boston, there is not one year which 
stands out so prominently, especially in the educational department, 
as the season just finished. 

The members feel that this department, under the guidance of 
Prof. James Mahoney, Principal of the Catholic Literary Union 
School, has done a wonderful amount of good for those scores of people 
whose early education was sadly neglected. 

The officers of the Union are greatly pleased over the success of their 
school and will plan for even greater efforts, feeling that the organiza- 
tion could do no greater good for humanity than in helping to educate 
those who are ambitious to learn to better their station in life. 

Extraordinary Registration at the Catholic Literary Union 

OF Charlestown 

A social club which harbors within its walls a vigorous school of five 
hundred students is naturally the subject of much favorable comment, 
and many questions are being asked about the school and about 
the club which fosters it. The Catholic Literary Union is situated at 
5 Monument Square, Charlestown, directly opposite the Bunker Hill 
Monument. The building is one of the handsome old mansions for 
which the Square is famous. If you approach the building any Mon- 
day evening, after seven o'clock, you will be impressed with the fact 
that it is the destination of crowds of men, young and old, who are 
hurrying up the streets which converge upon the Square. The spa- 
cious rooms are already lighted, and the large parlor on the first floor 
is already packed with an anxious crowed of students, every seat taken, 
a mass of men standing front and rear and along the sides — the door- 
way even thronged, and a group of students in the hallway outside, 
striving to catch the words of the teacher and to work out his problems 
on paper held in their hands. This is the huge class in Civil Service 
and Business Arithmetic. 

A glance into the rear parlor will also reveal a solidly packed room, 
a class in Civil Service also. 

A surprising fact will impress the eye, namely, that most of these 
pupils are mature men — some of them forty or fifty years of age. 

Upstairs, in the original classroom, is a large class in Banking and 
Finance. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays in the parlor likewise — the best that the 
Union has to offer — are two large classes in Bookkeeping and Civil 
Service Arithmetic. Beginners in the front parlor, and intermediate 
pupils in the rear. 



224 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Two large classes with individual instruction are possible at the 
Union, because discipline need not engage the attention of the 
instructor. 

Upstairs in the original classroom, Tuesday and Thursday even- 
ing, is a fine class in Business Arithmetic and Bookkeeping. 

In Classroom Number Two, Tuesdays and Thursdays, is a class of 
Charlestown professional and business men, receiving training in 
Commercial Spanish. Also on these evenings is a class in Argumenta- 
tion and Debates. 

On Wednesday evenings, in addition to the classes already men- 
tioned, is a large class in Shorthand. 

On Friday evenings the class in Accounting and Auditing meets. 

On Saturday evenings the class in Argumentation meets. 

The Glee Club meets on Saturday evenings, also. 

Athletic classes from the Union meet in the new city Gymnasium on 
Lexington Street. 

Mr. James Mahoney continues, as formerly, to serve as Principal of 
the School, and Dr. John F. O'Brien is Chairman of the Educational 
Committee. 

One naturally enquires further in regard to the club which is en- 
gaged in such unusual work. The history of the Union goes well back 
into the last century, having been founded in 1879. At that time the 
organization was known as the Lyceum; in 1885, it received the name 
of the St. Francis de Sales Total Abstinence and Literary Society. 

In 1893 it was reorganized and received its present name. Rev. 
James N. Supple has been its spiritual director from the beginning in 
1879, and so continues. 

The society has numbered among its members and officers many of 
the leading men of Charlestown and Boston, and every year on the 
evening of the 16th of June it celebrates the anniversary of the great 
battle of the Revolution. 

James Mahoney. 

Catholic Literary Union, Charlestown, Mass., 

February 28, 1914. 

Mr. James Mahoney, Head of the English Department of the 
South Boston High School, has been a member of our School Board 
from the beginning of our educational work, five years ago ; and for the 
past four years he has been Principal of the School, in active charge 
and with full responsibility. 

As Principal, he has drawn up the course of study, selected and 
hired the teachers, arranged the program, secured the classes, and 
guided the work. The course of study in our judgment is thoroughly 
practical and sensible, suited to the demands of modern business and 
to the needs of our young men; our teachers are recognized as among 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 225 

the very best and they have efficiently carried out the program, work- 
ing harmoniously and cordially with the Principal and with each 
other. 

We have learned by experience that it is by no means easy to secure 
attendance in an evening school, however excellent it may be, on the 
part of those, we mean, who are not provided for by the public evening 
classes. To secure attendance in our classes, Mr. Mahoney utilized 
all the possible means and agencies of Charlestown — our prominent 
men, clubs, societies, in fact, the active support of the District. 

While our Union is a club, and lacks the ordinary means of disci- 
pline which belong to a school, there has been hardly an instance of 
disorder. Mr. Mahoney's efficiency in dealing with the students, we 
believe, has been chiefly instrumental in bringing about this result. 
The teachers all testify that the most cordial and friendly relations 
have always existed between them and their pupils here; and among 
evening schools our percentage of attendance has been relatively high. 
The highest standard of work has been maintained from the begin- 
ning and the school has steadily progressed from year to year, in 
number of students, of classes and of teachers; and many splendidly 
trained young men have graduated from our classes, and have won 
promotion because of the training given them here. 
Educational Committee, 

John F. O'Brien, Chairman, 
James N. Supple, 
Thomas J. Gallagher, 
Arthur W. Dolan, 
John S. Flanagan, 
James P. Maloney, 
Walter J. Phelan, 
John J. Flynn, 
James J. Phelan. 

The members of the Educational Committee have each received a 
letter from James Mahoney, the director of the school, portions of 
which follow : 

"I thank you most kindly for the testimonial which I have just 
received from you. I have been associated with you for five years, 
and during that time a peculiarly difficult task has been ours — the 
maintenance of an evening school in a club, and that, too, during 
these times when our young men are devoted to present pleasure 
rather than to sacrifice for future gain. That it has been possible to 
keep the school in existence and to secure steady progress from year to 
year, our thanks are due first of all to Mr. Phelan, who conceived the 
idea of the school and whose brain and purse have been our constant 
recourse. 

16 



226 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

"You will join me also in a tribute to our chairman, Dr. O'Brien, 
whose zeal, good sense and courtesy have been of incalculable assist- 
ance. To those two gentlemen, my own thanks are especially due for 
the constant support they have given me, and for the steady confidence 
that they have reposed in me. 

"And to you all, gentlemen, I am grateful for many acts of courtesy 
and kindness, and especially for this present act of yours. 

"While we have not accomplished all that we could have wished, 
I believe we have done all that was possible under the circumstances; 
and I trust that from our endeavors will come far greater things 
hereafter." 

Early in the following September James Mahoney severed his con- 
nections with the Business School as he felt that it would be unfair to 
himself to again undertake the active management. 

Brookline, Massachusetts, 
July 12, 1916. 

It was my good fortune to know Mr. James Mahoney for several 
years. He was associated with me in a work in which we were both 
very much interested, — extending the education of some of the young 
men connected with the Catholic Literary Union of Charlestown. 
This work went on for several years entirely under the supervision of 
Mr. Mahoney, and I have had young men come to me repeatedly, and 
tell me how much they owed Mr. Mahoney for what he had done for 
them, not only in an educational way, but as regarded advising them 
in what line they might be best fitted for future employment. Being 
the teacher that he was, and understanding human nature as he did, 
those young men who have followed his advice can better than some 
of us appreciate how valuable such advice has proven to be. Mr. 
Mahoney never spared himself, and though apparently not having the 
physical strength of some who appeared more robust, we marvelled 
at his physical endurance. Rain or shine, irrespective of what the 
thermometer registered, Mr. Mahoney, notwithstanding that he had 
put in several hours of hard work in the South Boston High School, 
where he was instructor in English, would be at the Catholic Literary 
Union, Monument Square, Charlestown, night after night, where I 
have seen him labor until twelve o'clock, and this gratuitously, with no 
other desire or wish in his heart than that of helping somebody. 

Mr. Mahoney was a Christian gentleman; he was a scholar, gifted 
with a most wonderful analytical mind, and the ability to impart to 
others, but above all he was full of charity and good will toward 
others. He seemed happiest when assisting even to the smallest 
degree his fellow man. 

I am glad it was my good fortune to have known James Mahoney. 

James J. Phelan. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 227 

To somewhat ennoble the surroundings of school life, to give the children a glimpse 
of a finer world, would be our wish. The school children of today are soon to be the 
citizens of the Republic. — James Mahoney. 

Artistic objects introduced in profusion cannot alone put art into the public schools. 
These objects must be understood, their meaning assimilated, the ideas they embody 
loved, and their presence made an organic part of the beauty and fitness of the school- 
room, before we can speak of the influences of art as an element in our system of edu- 
cation. — Mrs. Sarah W. Whitman. 

Our civilization does not need more money; but it does need more poetry, more 
art, more humanity. — James Mahoney. 

Environment is, perhaps, the most powerful influence in life; let us see to it that 
the surroundings of the young especially are both attractive and inspiring. 

— James Mahoney. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL ART LEAGUE 

Mr. James Mahoney was connected with the Public School Art 
League shortly after its beginning. The work of the League quickly 
commended itself to him, trained as he was, to understand the needs 
of the children and youths, eager to see and learn about the best 
examples of Art and Nature, which could be placed before them in 
schoolrooms, where day in and day out, they could be brought face 
to face with reproductions of the masterpieces of the art of Europe 
carried to a large scale by photographic enlargements. 

He realized that most of our children get their first strong impres- 
sions of school so that it became a public duty to make the schools 
and their surroundings beautiful; and that reproductions of works of 
art of the highest quality should be used in guiding and moulding the 
children and in helping them to realize the ideal of humanity. 

The work was slow, the early enthusiasm of the association flagged 
at times. The results were good; but the process of selecting the 
schools and the appropriate illustrations for each one of the twenty 
rooms which our Boston schools average was arduous. The annual 
subscriptions of $2 were apt to fall off rather than to increase ; members 
were prone to turn to more-telling and less isolated work, and there 
were many resignations. 

In the face of these difficulties James Mahoney, as chairman of the 
Executive Committees, held true, and with his own energy and sheer 
sense of duty, kept the individuals up to their work, where a lax organ- 
ization of volunteer work had to be overcome, and turned former 
failure to success. 

It is not too much to say, that he kept the I^eague alive in the face 
of illsustained support, and kept up a stout and chivalrous fight which 
likened him, as one of his co-workers said, to a Knight of old. These 
qualities carried on the small League year in and year out, until its 
fruits can now be counted with satisfaction and some pride. 

J. T. COOLIDGE. 



228 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Oliver Hazard Perry School, 
Boston, March 5, 1907. 
My dear Mr. Mahoney: 

The teachers of this school at a recent meeting authorized me to 
convey to the Public School Art League through you their appre- 
ciative thanks for their work for this school. 

Not only are the pupils and teachers pleased, but also parents and 
other visitors as well. 

I desire to make special mention of Mrs. Merriman's unusually 
successful and artistic efforts. 

May the League continue its helpful and elevating and refining 
work. 

Yours very gratefully, 

Charles N. Bentley. 

Thomas N. Hart School, 
Boston, February 2, 1906. 
Dear Mr. Mahoney: 

It has been my intention for some time to write you a letter to tell 
you how much I appreciated your extreme kindness and courtesy 
during the interviews and correspondence relative to the Boston 
Public School Art League of which you are a prominent member. 

It was all the more marked because I was obliged to disappoint 
your League and you by my unwillingness to have a public meeting 
at the time you suggested. 

I hope our meeting in this matter may be the beginning of a long 
and pleasant acquaintance. 

Yours truly, 

John F. Dwight. 

29 Cedar Ave., 
Mr. James Mahoney, Stoneham, Mass. 

Secretary, Public School Art League. 
Dear Sir: 

I am very sorry that I am to be out of the state on the eighth instant 
and so be deprived of the pleasure of meeting with your association 
and expressing to them my appreciation, as well as that of the teach- 
ers and pupils of the Washington School, of the very beautiful and 
generous collection of photographs recently hung in our school rooms. 

If you could know the interest and pleasure which the children 
have already had in those pictures you would be well repaid. In very 
many rooms the effect upon the class was noticeable at once. I will 
cite only one instance and that of the first grade class in whose room 
was hung Sir Joshua Reynold's "Age of Innocence." 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 229 

In imitation of the little girl in the picture, every little girl in the 
class, except three, appeared at the first afternoon session with hair 
nicely dressed and adorned with a pretty bow of ribbon. The three 
who had no ribbons were so dejected that the teachers provided them 
with some and a happier, or neater, or sweeter class of little girls it 
would have been hard to find in Boston. 

The interest displayed in this room has been paralleled in nearly 
every one of the thirty rooms in which the pictures were hung. 

The children study them and get to know them. 

Aside from the adornment of the room and the mere pleasure which 
they afford, I regard such pictures as having a distinctly educative 
value. 

I commend the work which your League is doing and thank you 
most sincerely for your generosity to the Washington School. 

Very truly yours, 

Benj. J. Hinds. 
July 5, 1910. 

Art in the Schools 

League in South Boston Told That Beautiful Surroundings Give 
Incentive to Work 

A very largely attended and interesting meeting of the Public 
School Art League was held in the Assembly Hall of the South Boston 
High School, South Boston, last evening. 

James Mahoney, master of the High School, an enthusiastic pro- 
moter of the beautiful in the schools and a deep student of the needs 
and opportunities for the young people, presided. In his introduc- 
tory address he spoke of the twelve years of work and accomplish- 
ments of the League in providing instructive decorations for the public 
schoolrooms of the city, chiefly in the form of enlarged photographs, 
busts and bas-reliefs. He said that the League is doing splendid 
work with limited resources, and asked for support and interest of 
a larger membership. 

The other speakers were: Arthur Astor Carey , William H. Grueby, 
Rev. Mortimer E. Twomey, Charles Bruen Perkins. 

Charles N. Bentley, master of the Oliver Hazard Perry School, 
which school has been beautifully decorated by the Art League, was 
the concluding speaker. He said that the opinions of the average 
boy could best be expressed by the quotation of one of his boys, who 
said: "It is easier to work and harder to do wrong in a beautiful and 
beautified schoolroom." Mr. Bentley further spoke of the splendid 
work of the Public School Art League and said it was helpful to dis- 
cipline and an incentive to work and inspiring of higher ideals. 



230 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Boston Evening Record, January 31, 1911. 

The Public School Art League is starting out on its thirteenth 
year of work with a large supply of the patience and perseverance 
which have given its quiet work the reward of real success. If the 
Art Museum is doing educational work in its larger office, the League 
is truly a very large assistant, though the quiet way in which it works 
makes its accomplishment less known to the public. 

The pupils in the schools do not have to be told. In fourteen 
schools they have fine proof, each day, on their work on photographs 
or arts of some of the finest art in the world. Yet the fourteen are 
about a ninth of all the schools in the city, and as it takes from $400 
to $700 to decorate completely one school, and there are only 180 
subscribers to the League, the work is gradual. There are some 
gifts. 

Miss Martha Silsbee of Marlboro Street is treasurer. James 
Mahoney of the English high, the head of the Executive Committee, 
works indefatigably year by year. 

National Educational Association 

Convention at Boston 

1903 

July 18, 1903. 
The local Executive Committee of the National Educational Asso- 
ciation Convention wishes to thank the members of the Public School 
Art League for their valuable contribution of pictures which they 
kindly lent to the Women's Building of the Convention. They went 
far toward making the building more attractive and interesting. 

Edward K. Warren, 
Chairman Local Executive Committee. 
Public School Art League, 

60 State Street, Boston, Mass. 

The following extracts from various reports will give some idea of 
the work done by the Public School Art League of which James 
Mahoney was chairman for the twenty years he was connected with 
it. During that time the League placed about twenty-five thousand 
dollars' worth of pictures and casts in various schools : 

What shall it profit a nation if it gain the whole world, and lose 
its own soul? In the review of the progress during the past century 
the words continually repeated are "inventions," "trade," "wealth." 

No sensible person will belittle the importance of these things; but 
the wise know that our country's mission is not fulfilled by these things 
alone; they know that its real worth consists rather in its endeavor to 
realize the ideals of humanity and in the noble specimens of humanity 
whom it has produced. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 231 

All thinking people clearly see that our public schools are the springs 
of our natural life ; but those whose minds are bent solely on material 
things would make the education purely commercial and scientific. 

Those of deeper insight perceive that our schools should also nur- 
ture the ideals of men, whose best expression is found in the fine arts. 

The Public School Art League believes that our public schools 
should be, indeed, temples of learning, adorned with all that can at- 
tract and inspire. 

A humble though practical effort with this end in view has just 
been made by the League in the Francis Parkman School, Forest 
Hills. The school house itself is a handsome building, on high ground 
with rolling open space about it and hills in the distance, a worthy 
memorial to the highminded scholar whose name it bears. 

As one enters the front hall, classic views of Greece and Egypt 
greet the eye; the Nile; the Pyramids; the acropolis; the Parthenon, 
crown of Athens. Flags of the state and of the nation guard the en- 
trance to the central hall where are found portraits of Mr. Parkman 
in the midst of scenes familiar in his works, Indian braves, forests, 
mountains. Beyond the central hall is the kindergarten room, the 
children's royal room. 

Here are objects dear to the heart of childhood, dogs, cats, squirrels, 
ships, and high in the center the Child enthroned in the arms of 
Raphael's Madonna. 

"They make us pretty," "They make us happy," say the children. 
"I see them when I go home," said a little one. Next comes the 
Lincoln and Washington room. Here is Mt. Vernon and also the 
mud-plastered log cabin in which Lincoln was born. A large photo- 
graph of the noble Lincoln by St. Gaudens occupies the next wall 
space, while directly opposite is a huge picture of the National 
Capitol Building at Washington, with the Stuart Washington por- 
traits on either side. 

"I like the picture of George Washington," writes a lad of nine 
years; "he was a brave and noble man." "His face looks honest," 
says a little girl of ten; "I like Martha Washington's picture because 
her face looks as though she was smiling at us all the time." 

"Washington and Lincoln did a great many deeds," writes a 
young man of ten. "When Lincoln was small he was poor; Washing- 
ton was born in a very rich house." 

The upper front hall is also classic, the Roman Forum, an Emperor 
and a Roman "Victory." 

In the upper central hall are seen Italian views, Venice, Florence, 
with cuts from works by famous masters. In the historical room are 
noted figures and scenes of bygone days in England, France and Spain. 
Joan of Arc and the Duke of Orleans are especial favorites with the 
children. 



232 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

In the Francis Parkman room the portraits please best the boys; 
while the girls are especially fond of the gardens and flowers. 

It has seemed best to make subscription to the work of the League 
only two dollars a year so that as many as possible might share in 
the work. 

Address Arthur A. Carey, Treasurer of the Public School Art 
League, 50 State Street, Boston. 

James Mahoney. 



Extracts from "Notes and Suggestions on Schoolroom Decoration," 
compiled by James Mahoney, 1898: 

The Boston Public School Art League 

The Constitution 
object 

The Public School Art League, of Boston, is instituted to pro- 
mote the adornment of schoolrooms, and the cultivation of art in 
the schools. 

officers 

The officers of the League shall consist of a President, a Vice- 
President, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and a Board of five directors. 

meetings 

There shall be two annual meetings; on the first Monday in Octo- 
ber and the first Monday in May. Fifteen members shall constitute 
a quorum. 

membership 

All persons who desire to further the objects of the League shall be 
eligible to membership. 

dues 

The dues shall be two dollars, payable the first Monday in October. 

election of officers 

The election of officers shall be held on the first Monday in May. 

OFFICERS 

Henry W. Putnam, President; Frank A. Hill, Vice-President; 
Arthur Astor Carey, Treasurer, 29 Fairfield Street, Boston; Walter 
Oilman Page, Secretary, 90 Westland Avenue, Boston. 

DIRECTORS 

Mrs. F. B. Ames, Mrs. E. H. Richards, Ross Turner, C. Howard 
Walker, James Mahoney, Chairman. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 233 

1898. 
The Boston Public School Art League 

It is the ideal of the League to make the schoolhouse a temple 
worthy to receive, and fitted to inspire, the children of all the people 
to the dignity of free citizenship in the Republic. 

We urge, first of all, that the school buildings be of good archi- 
tecture, attractive without, and worthy to receive adornment within. 

We would decorate the corridors, rooms, and halls, with repro- 
ductions of the masterpieces of art, — photographs, casts, and, should 
our means ever permit, with the more costly works of art, selecting, 
arranging, and grouping according to the grade and mental range of 
the pupils concerned. 

This movement, though still in its infancy, has already produced 
visible results, not only in Boston and in many other cities and towns 
in New England, but throughout the entire country, being taken up 
with a zeal which would seem incredible to those who see in art only 
a form of luxury. 

The work began in Boston in 1871, with the decoration of the hall 
in the Girls' High School. In 1883 (School Document 20) the Boston 
School Committee suggested help and action in line with the move- 
ment of the English Committee, headed by John Ruskin. 

Not long afterwards, in Salem, Mr. Ross Turner, feeling the lack 
of appreciation for all things artistic in America, when he saw the 
handsome Phillips School building just completed, thought that here, 
in the schoolroom with the children, was the place to begin, if America 
was ever to appreciate such things. He found the school authorities, 
teachers, and pupils most ready to co-operate. A considerable sum 
of money was raised, and the result was the decoration of four rooms 
in the Phillips School building with large solar prints and casts; the 
city tinting the walls at its own expense. The spaces for pictures were 
filled with regard to size, nothing being sacrificed to mere ornamenta- 
tion. One room was decorated as a Roman room, another as Ameri- 
can, the third with subjects of the Italian Renaissance, and the fourth 
with Egyptian subjects. The room of the Italian Renaissance is 
perhaps the most complete and interesting. Here the light was cold 
and cheerless in effect, and to offset this the walls were tinted with a 
light Venetian red. For decoration, five large casts of the bas-relief 
of Luca della Robbia were used. The large space at the end of the 
room was adorned with a large photograph of the "Aurora," by 
Guido Reni. 

In May, 1892, the Public School Art League was formed in Boston, 
being the first attempt to organize the movement on a large scale, 
and suSicient funds were collected to decorate two rooms, a petition 
having been presented to the School Board. Among the twenty- 
four names attached to this petition were those of Phillips Brooks, 



234 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Edward Everett Hale, Julia Ward Howe, Francis A. Walker, Eben 
N. Horsford, and Charles G. Loring. As a result of the favorable 
action of the School Board, a room in the English High School was 
decorated with photographs and casts pertaining to Roman art and 
history. 

A room in the Rice Primary School was also decorated with pic- 
tures and casts, mainly relating to American history. 

In 1894, The Agassiz School, Burroughs Street, Jamaica Plain, 
with the co-operation of the principal of the school and under the 
leadership of Mr. Walter Oilman Page, then a member of the Boston 
School Board, was decorated. The large assembly hall was hung 
with pictures illustrative of American history, such as "Washington 
Crossing the Delaware," portraits of Washington, Lafayette, Adams, 
etc. 

The upper corridor contains busts of Hamilton, Webster, Sumner, 
Phillips, Agassiz, and Mann. The middle corridor is filled with casts 
taken from subjects of Italian and Grecian art, such as six slabs 
from the Parthenon frieze, "Boys and Girls Singing and Playing on 
Instruments," by Luca della Robbia, a statue of Sophocles, busts of 
Zeus, Apollo, Diana, Minerva, etc. 

The lower corridor contains busts of Washington, Franklin, Jeffer- 
son, Lincoln, Grant, etc. 

Classroom No. 6 is to be decorated with subjects pertaining to 
English history. At present it contains busts of Sir Isaac Newton 
and Shakespeare. Additions will be made by successive graduating 
classes. 

MEMORIAL ROOMS 

The decoration of a room in the Latin School, Warren Avenue, 
with subjects pertaining directly to the War of the Revolution, was 
permitted by the generosity of one of the descendants of Samuel 
Adams, under direction of Mr. Page. 

GILBERT STUART SCHOOL 

In May, 1897, in recognition and in appreciation of the naming 
of this school after one of the most distinguished of American painters, 
the Boston artists, at a meeting held at the Boston Art Club, voted to 
issue a circular to the members of their profession in Boston, asking 
for contributions of pictures in oil, watercolor, pastel, or black and 
white, to adorn the walls of the principal's room. 

In consequence, the school contains a collection of original works 
of art, many of them signed by men of wide reputation. 

WORK OF SOCIETIES 

Many societies and clubs have taken up the work, societies of 
women, in particular, doing loyal service. Among the societies con- 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 235 

tributing are the following: Society of Sons of the Revolution, in the 
Commonwealth; Paul Revere Chapter, Daughters of the Revolution; 
Woman's Relief Corps; Appalachian Mountain Club; Twentieth 
Century Club; Women's Educational and Industrial Union; The 
Historic Art Club (Manchester, N. H.)- 

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 

It would be our desire to give as many practical hints and sugges- 
tions as possible, such information as school authorities and others 
interested are most desirous of receiving; and for that reason we insert 
chapters on the following topics : 

Tinting of the Walls. A consideration of the subject of wall-tinting 
led to unexpected results, namely, that the glaring white of the walls 
of our schoolrooms was not only inartistic but actually injurious to 
the pupils' eyes, straining and weakening them; and further consid- 
eration led to the welcome fact that art and hygiene were here at one, 
namely, that the tints which would rest and please the eye were also 
those which were most artistic, such as soft gray-greens or delicate 
shades of dull blue, while for halls and corridors terra cotta tones 
afford a contrast to the classrooms. Tints should be laid on in flat 
washes, the depth of color used should depend upon the lighting of 
the room; ceilings must be tinted, as they reflect light. In general, 
thus, the tints are to be selected according to the situation of the room 
and the lighting of it. 

One of the questions most often asked is, "Where can we obtain 
a list of suitable reproductions of works of art.^*" We append, in 
answer, the following lists, first that of Mr. Arthur Astor Carey, 
whose collection of photographs is the most complete single list that 
has yet been put together, and is now on exhibition in the Boston 
Public Library; secondly, that of Mr. Walter Gilman Page; and, 
thirdly, a list of works of art for schoolroom decoration by a joint 
committee representing the Boston Art Studei^ts' Association, Con- 
ference of Educational Workers, and the Public School Art League. 

[Extracts from James Mahoney's report, 1900.] 

Since presenting its last report, the Public School Art League has 
decorated with photographs and casts two schoolhouses, — the 
"Francis Parkman," Walkhill Street, Forest Hills, and the "Bow- 
doin," Myrtle Street, Boston. 

In order that the League may become a vital factor in the education 
of Boston, it ought to be able to decorate at least three or four school 
buildings each year. But membership dues are its only regular source 
of income (two dollars per year) . 

Every one who is really interested in this work is earnestly requested 
to induce at least one other person to become a member of the League. 



236 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

[Extracts from James Mahoney's report, 1901.] 

This society is organized for the purpose of providing schoolrooms 
with appropriate works of art, especially with photographs and plaster 
casts of the great and simple pictures and statues of the world. 

It believes that reproductions of works of the highest quality should 
be used in guiding and moulding the taste of children, and that the 
old truth. Maxima debetur puero reverentia, applies in this as in all 
other fields of influence and education. 

A pamphlet, called "Notes and Suggestions on Schoolroom Deco- 
ration," has been published by the society for the use of kindred 
organizations and of individuals interested in similar work, and will 
be mailed, without charge, to any applicant. 

It is believed that a large membership, each member paying a small 
fee, is a better basis for such a society than larger contributions from 
comparatively few individuals, and therefore the annual dues have 
been fixed at the small sum of two dollars. It is essential to success, 
however, under this arrangement, that the membership should be 
very large, and therefore you are earnestly requested, if its objects 
and methods meet with your approval, to join the society and to 
induce others to give their help in the same way. 

Address Arthur A. Carey, Treasurer of the Public School Art 
League, 50 State Street, Boston. 

Officers of the Public School Art League 

President — Mrs. Sarah W. Whitman. 

Vice-Presidents — Mrs. Fanny B. Ames, Mrs. Mary Morton Kehew, Mrs. Ellen H. 
Richards, Mrs. Paul Thorndike, Mr. J. Templeman Coolidge, Jr., Mr. Joseph Lee, 
Mrs. Henry L. Higginson, Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer, Mrs. J. Montgomery Sears, 
Dr. Wm. Sturgis Bigelow, Mr. Frank A. Hill, Mr. Robert Treat Paine. 

Secretary — Miss Hilda Whiteside, The Ludlow, Copley Square, Boston. 

Treasurer — Mr. Arthur A. Carey, 50 State Street, Boston. 

Executive Committee — Mr. James Mahoney, Chairman; Miss Hilda Whiteside, Mr. 
J. Randolph Coolidge, Jr., Mr. Otto Fleischner, Mrs. Louis Prang, Mr. Arthur A. 
Carey, Mr. J. Templeman Coolidge, Jr., Mr. Ross Turner. 

[Extracts from James Mahoney's report, 1904.] 

" 6. — It is important that school buildings and school grounds should be planned and 
decorated so as to serve as effective agencies for educating not only the children, but the 
people as a whole, in matters of taste. The school is becoming more and more a com- 
munity centre, and its larger opportunities impose new obligations. School buildings 
should be attractive as well as healthful, and the adjoining grounds should be laid out 
and planned with appropriateness and beauty." — From Resolutions, National Educa- 
tional Association, Mechanics' Hall, July 10, 1903. 

In order that the work of the Public School Art League may grow, the Executive 
Committee most earnestly urges each member of the League to induce at least one 
other person to become a member. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 237 

Report of Executive Committee 

It is now more than two years since the Public School Art League 
has had a public meeting. 

The Executive Committee greatly regrets this fact; but different 
circumstances made it seem necessary. However, the work of the 
League, namely, the decoration of schoolrooms, did not cease; and 
it seems to be a fact that during a like period the League has rarely 
accomplished more. 

A statement has already been issued regarding the decoration of 
the Frothingham School, Charlestown. 

The Benjamin Dean School was decorated last summer, by Mr. 
Peabody of the Executive Committee, in a way that has won the 
cordial approval of the Sixth Division Committee (having the Dean 
School in charge), and of the teachers. Mr, Peabody is at present at 
work on the East Boston High School. 

A most valuable part of the work of the League is being accom- 
plished by the sub-committee (of the Executive Committee) known 
as the Color Committee. 

The Schoolhouse Commission has seen fit to intrust it with the 
delicate and difficult task of taking in charge the internal coloring of 
a number of the public schools of the city. 

The members are requested to read the carefully prepared reports 
written by Mr. J. R. Coolidge, Jr. 

Great credit is due the President of the League, Mrs. Henry Whit- 
man, for the excellent color-scheme for the Boston Latin and English 
High Schools, drawn up by her during the trying weather of the 
summer of 1903. 

The advent of the National Educational Association to Boston 
last summer furnished an opportunity for the spread of the doctrines 
of the Public School Art League, which the Executive Committee 
thought ought not be missed. 

Mr. J. T. Coolidge, Jr., and Mr. Otto Fleischner, at an expense 
of about one hundred dollars, fitted up a room in the Girls' Latin 
School which was used as a Woman's Building. This room gave 
pleasure to many thousands of the teachers during the convention 
week, as testified by the warm thanks of the Executive Committee of 
the National Educational Association. 

The chairman of the Executive Committee of the League was 
requested by the officers of the National Educational Association 
to form a local reception committee to represent Boston art interests 
at the convention. 

Such a committee was accordingly formed. Headquarters were 
established at the Normal Art School. 

(a) Lectures were given by Mr. J. R. Coolidge, Jr., and Mr. Ross 



238 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Turner, on the decoration of schoolhouses, to audiences that could 
scarcely be contained within the appointed halls. 

(b) A number of receptions in the studios of leading Boston artists 
were arranged. These were well attended, and much appreciated 
by the visiting teachers. 

(c) An exhibition of the work of the Massachusetts School of 
Design, of the Benson and Tarbell and of the Eric Pape Schools, 
was also held, and was well attended. 

The work of the League was appreciated by the N. E. A, and its 
principles were strongly endorsed in the final resolutions of the 
convention. 

Respectfully submitted, 

James Mahoney, 
Chairman Executive Committee. 

Boston, January 25, 1904. 
To James Mahoney, Esq., 

Chairman Executive Committee Boston Public School Art 
League. 
Dear Sir: 

At the request of the Executive Committee of the Boston Public 
School Art League, I last summer took charge of the decoration of the 
Benjamin Dean School, South Boston. 

As the school is for very young children, the choice of pictures and 
casts was somewhat difficult, the question being how to interest them 
without choosing subjects of a somewhat low artistic standard. This 
danger, I think, has been overcome. There is no doubt of the delight 
of their teachers in being surrounded by beautiful things, and this 
pleasure will doubtless be in some way reflected in the instruction of 
their pupils. 

All the walls of the classrooms I found tinted a shade of buff; and, 
although as a background for the casts it was not satisfactory, no 
change was made on account of the cost, as it seemed probable that, 
when the time came to do them again, better shades could be selected 
at the expense of the city. The decorations were all placed in the 
classrooms, except that over the landing of the west or main staircase 
was placed Houdon's bust of Washington on a bracket, with two large 
United States flags crossed and draped behind it. 

List of photographs and casts used in the rooms of the Benjamin 
Dean School, South Boston: 

Room 1. North wall, over teacher's desk. Cast, four panels from Cantoria Frieze 
by Lucca della Robbia. 

East wall, The Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris. 

West wall. Holy Trinity, Stratford-on-Avon; Portrait of Abraham Lincoln with flag 
over it; Portrait of General U. S. Grant with flag over it. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 239 

Room 2. South wall, Portraits of George and Martha Washington with view of 
Mt. Vernon between them, over this two flags draped. 

East wall, Cast, slab X from Parthenon Frieze. 

West wall. Cows at the Watering-trough, Dupre. 

Room 3. Kindergarten, North wall. Shoeing the Bay Mare, Landseer; Holy Fam- 
ily, Murillo; Cast, Bambino, Andrea della Robbia. 

West wall. The Singing Class, Wunsck; Sheep Feeding, Mauve. 

Room 4- Kindergarten, South wall. Cast, Winged Victory; four colored prints, 
The Seasons. 

East wall, Feeding the Hens, J. F. Millet. 

West wall. Watering the Horses, Dagnan-Bouveret. 

Room 5. Noith wall. Feeding her Birds, J. F. Millet; St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome; 
Arab on Dromedary, from life. 

South wall. Cast, Madonna and Child, Luca della Robbia. 

West wall. Cast, Morning, Thorwaldsen; Cast, Night, Thorwaldsen; Niagara Falls, 
United States flag over it. 
Room 6. South wall, Washington crossing the Delaware, flag over; Cast, Declara- 
tion of Independence; Cast, Treaty of Peace. 

East wall. Cast, Head of Virgin, on bracket. 

West wall, the Ducal Palace, Venice. 

Room 7. North wall. Overflow of Nile and Pyramids, from nature; The Repose in 
Egypt, Van Dyck; Cast, Cupids Singing, Gian da Bologna. 

East waU, The Goose Girl, J. F. Millet. 

West wall, Capitol at Washington, flag over. 

Room 8. South wall. Carnival of Columbus; United States Frigate, Constitution; 
United States Warship, Massachusetts; two pennants, Union Jack and United States 
flag, draped over these 

East wall. The First Step, J. F. Millet; Cast, Madonna and Child, Rosselino. 

On the walls omitted in above list were placed various casts and 
photographs already in possession of the school. The whole cost of 
the decoration of this school was just under $500. 

I remain. 
Yours respectfully, 

J. E. Peabody. 



[Extracts from James Mahoney's report, 1907.] 

Since the Executive Committee of the Public School Art League 
made its last report, Mr. John Endicott Peabody has decorated the 
East Boston High schoolhouse; Mrs. Daniel Merriman, the Oliver 
Hazard Perry schoolhouse in South Boston ; and Miss Martha Silsbee 
and Mr. J, Templeman Coolidge, Jr., the Dearborn schoolhouse in 
Roxbury and the Quincy schoolhouse in the South End. 

To these decorators of the League special thanks and gratitude 
are due. No one who is not familiar with the details of this kind 
of work can appreciate the difficulty of it, nor comprehend how it 
takes time and taxes patience. 

Those who believe in the value of school decoration are earnestly 
requested to secure new members for the League, as membership fees 



240 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

constitute its chief source of income. These fees are only two dollars 
per year. Special gifts both of money and of objects of art suitable 
for the schoolroom are welcome indeed. Contributions should be 
sent to Miss Martha Silsbee, Treasurer, 115 Marlborough Street, 
Boston. 

James Mahoney, 
For the Executive Committee. 
Boston, 

April 30, 1907. 

East Boston High School, 
Boston, April 9, 1907. 
Mr. James Mahoney, 

The Charlesgate, Boston, Mass. 

Dear Sir: 

In the absence of Mr. Peabody, I am asked to make a report upon 
the work of the Public School Art League in decorating the East 
Boston High School in 1905. 

The stipulation that the Alumni should provide $100 was met by a 
favorable vote at the meeting in May, and the statuary, pictures, 
and busts were procured. These were placed in the building as 
follows: In the lower corridor the large statue of Thalia, the Muse 
of Comedy, upon a large pedestal; a pedestal was provided also for a 
companion piece, Clio, Muse of History, owned by the school. On 
the walls of the lower staircase in either end of the building were 
placed sixteen busts on plaster supports fastened to the walls, eight in 
each staircase; four historical characters in early American history — 
Washington, Franklin, Lafayette, and Hamilton; four in later — ■ 
Webster, Grant, Lincoln, and John A. Andrew. 

In the corresponding staircase were placed five busts of noted 
Romans — Cicero, Virgil, Csesar, Caesar Augustus, and Marcus 
Aurelius; and three busts of mythological characters — Apollo, Min- 
erva, and Diana. On the walls of the upper staircase were hung, at 
one end of the building, three 3x4 feet photographs of American 
interest — Niagara Falls, the Great Geyser of the Yellowstone Na- 
tional Park, and the Capitol at Washington. On the staircase at the 
other end were hung three large photographs of foreign views — 
Notre Dame Cathedral at Paris, St. Peter's Church at Rome, and 
the Sistine Madonna. In the classrooms several pictures were 
grouped in a few rooms, instead of scattering them; in the senior 
classroom a large view of the Avon and church at Stratford, the scene 
of Cicero's first oration against Catiline in the Roman Senate, and a 
large view of the Nile near the Pyramids, In another room two 
large pictures — Washington Crossing the Delaware and the Signing 
of the Declaration of Independence. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 241 

The statuary and pictures are adapted to the character of the 
building as well as to the atmosphere of the school, and haye an 
injfluence in harmony with each and enhance the interest of both. 
They give to the building a feeling of culture and refinement, and the 
Art League may feel assured that its work is not only appreciated by 
pupil and teacher, but that it is an effective agent for the production 
of higher things. 

Yours very truly, 

John F. Eliot. 

The Oliver Hazard Perry School was decorated in the spring of 
1906. As this school has a most beautiful location near the sea at 
City Point, South Boston, and as it bears the name of a naval hero, 
it was thought well to decorate the assembly hall in honor of great 
naval achievements. 

The plaster walls and cornices of this hall had never been painted, 
so a tone of greenish olive gray was put over them and a number of 
cream-white tablets, with gold borders and gold lettering, were 
introduced. 

At the rear of the platform garlands of laurel were painted on the 
wall, and between them three laurel wreaths, suspended by sky-blue 
ribbons, inclosed the names of John Paul Jones, Oliver Hazard Perry, 
and David Gridley Farragut. Under these were painted horizontal 
tablets, each bearing a brave saying of the hero whose name stood in 
the wreath above. 

On the walls at the sides of the platform were placed tall tablets, 
with the names of the greatest naval commanders, from Themistocles 
down, painted on them. Below, at one side, three smaller tablets 
recorded the greatest naval victories of the world. Balancing these, 
at the opposite side of the hall, was placed a bas-relief from Trajan's 
Column, representing Victory inscribing names on a shield. 

Around the wall under the gallery were hung framed pictures, such 
as the "Old Constitution," the "Battle of Lake Erie," "Farragut at 
Mobile Bay," the "Bonhomme Richard and Serapis," etc., and a 
large photograph of Oliver Hazard Perry, taken from the bronze 
statue of him at Nc^^port, R. I., in which he is represented carrying 
his flag over his arm as he goes in an open boat from his sinking flag- 
ship to another vessel. 

Besides these, two laurel wreaths in plaster were hung under the 
gallery, one of which bore the honored name of Florence Nightingale 
and the other that of Dorothea Dix; and at the rear of the hall two 
heart-shaped tablets were made to set forth generous and inspiring 
words and deeds. On one was recorded the story of Commander 
Craven, who, in the turret of the sinking monitor Tecumseh, gave up 
to his pilot the only chance to escape, and perished with his ship. On 



242 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

the other were inscribed Lawrence's exhortation, "Don't give up the 
ship"; Nelson's, "England expects every man to do his duty"; and 
Philip's, "Don't cheer, men, the poor fellows are dying." 

There remained two very large and conspicuous wall spaces at the 
ends of the gallery, on either side of the hall. In these two circular 
pictures, each eight feet in diameter, were painted. One represented 
a Spanish caravel of the time of Columbus, and bore the date 1492. 
The other showed a modern full-rigged battleship, with the date 1906. 
Each of these pictures was inclosed in a wreath of laurel. The 
caravel was painted in tones of red and ochre, with decorated sails, 
on a peacock blue sea; and the battleship was white, with ochre tur- 
rets, on a cold blue North Atlantic sea. 

The expense of coloring the walls and cornices of the assembly hall 
and also of the stairs and corridors of the whole building (above the 
high dado) was borne by the Schoolhouse Commission, as these had 
never been tinted. In the corridors a pale reddish brown tone was 
used, to harmonize with the red-brown dado already there. Then a 
bas-relief from Thorwaldsen's "Triumphal Entry of Alexander into 
Babylon" was placed over each of the two entrance doors to the 
assembly hall, and a cast of the Delia Robbia Singing Boys, Children 
Dancing, and Playing on Instruments, etc., was placed over each of 
the six schoolroom doors in the corridor on the lower floor. 

Fourteen schoolrooms were still to be decorated, and it seemed 
needful to put something attractive in each, as all the school had 
joined in raising $200, by giving a concert, to supplement the funds 
of the Public School Art League. 

To find suitable works of art for such a purpose is not easy. They 
must be of considerable size in order to make any effect, and they 
must be of really good quality, yet they must not cost too much. In 
some rooms casts alone were used. The Singing Cherubs of Giovanni 
di Bologna was quite enough for one room. In another a long slab of 
dancing maidens, at either end of which was a bracket supporting a 
statuette. These statuettes were given to the League by Miss Ellen 
Parker, on behalf of her father. She also gave a bust of Clytie and 
a head of Apollo. These were placed on brackets in two of the other 
rooms, with a picture on either side. In another room a picture was 
placed in the center and Thorwaldsen's Night and Morning hung on 
either side. In another two "cupids from the tomb of Henry IV" 
supported a central picture. A madonna by Rosellino was made the 
central point in another room, and two of the cherub reliefs from 
San Antonio at Padua (which are tall and narrow) hung at either side 
of a central picture in yet another. In every case but one the decora- 
tion was confined to the wall at the end of the room above the teacher's 
chair. The exception was the Washington room, in which a colored 
print of Mt. Vernon was hung opposite the teacher's end, while above 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 243 

herchairabas-relief of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence 
was placed in the middle, flanked by fine engravings from the Stuart 
portraits of George and Martha Washington. These portraits and 
their frames were given to the school by the Sons and Daughters of 
the Revolution, respectively. 

All the pictures, with this exception (and there were a good many 
of them, as two and even three were used in some rooms), were col- 
ored pictures. It was felt that casts and photographs, however, good 
in themselves, were rather severe for the ordinary child's appreciation, 
so colored pictures were sought for. A series of large colored prints, 
measuring perhaps two by three feet when framed, had been issued in 
Germany for the special purpose of schoolroom decoration, and these 
were introduced with excellent effect. The subjects are romantic 
landscapes and village scenes, and some are figure compositions. 
Another smaller series of Dutch scenes was also used. The coloring 
was pleasing, and they did much to brighten the rooms. The whole 
sum spent in doing the decorative painting in this school (exclusive 
of the plain wall coloring), purchasing casts and pictures, framing 
the latter, and putting everything in its place was about $680, of 
which $200 was contributed by the school itself. 

H. B. Merriman, 

To James Mahoney, Esq., 

Chairman Executive Committee, 

Boston Public School Art League. 
Dear Sir: 

The four upper schoolrooms, the assembly hall, and the corridor at 
the top of the central staircase of the Dearborn School are the only 
spaces in that school where decoration was attempted. Already in 
the assembly hall were some casts and a few large framed photographs 
of landscapes which had been presented to the school by graduating 
classes. As these were all good of their kind, a photograph head of 
Franklin and one of Hamilton were added to make a more harmonious 
group of three at either end of the hall, and the frieze already started 
was continued over the center platform, the subject being "Chariots," 
in two sections, a relief copied from that found in Herculaneum, with a 
central piece of Bacchantes from an old sarcophagus of the same pe- 
riod. Under the last were placed two American flags, one red with a 
pine tree on the white stripe, the New England Old Colonial ; the other 
dark blue, the Bunker Hill flag, together with a plaster cast of the 
eagle, to give some color to the prevailing gray tone of the walls. 

It was the master's (Mr. King) desire that the school might do 
something towards the expense of the frieze, and for this purpose a 
meeting was organized and a talk given upon the war, which proved a 
great success, showing much interest in the cause, and thereby enough 



244 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

money was secured to pay for the frieze; and it is the hope of the com- 
mittee that this same interest shall continue until the hall is finished 
and perhaps the rest of the schoolhouse as well. 

The four upper rooms were chosen as a beginning because they are 
the upper grade rooms and the only ones on the same floor as the 
assembly hall. The wishes of the teachers were consulted as much as 
possible, and in Number 19, the only sunny one of the four, were put 
a large photograph by Carpaccio of St. George and the Dragon, from 
the church in Venice, at the end; one of Amalfi and one of the Castle 
of St. Angelo and the Tiber, on the side; and over the teacher's desk 
were hung a bas-relief of Luca della Robbia's madonna, with photo- 
graphs of Murillo's madonna and Velasquez's Olivarez on either side. 
Four smaller photographs already in the room were left, and on the 
side of the row of windows and between them were placed three small 
reliefs of fruit, asked for by the teachers in behalf of the children and 
for which they were eager enough to subscribe the money. The room 
opposite this. Number 20, has no sun, and so over the teacher's desk 
were placed three colored Swiss landscapes, and facing these two 
American landscapes, one of Niagara and the other a Western canon, 
leaving also in this room a few small ones already there. 

On the farther end of the schoolhouse. Number 18 is much over- 
shadowed by a building; and so in this room is another colored group 
of three Dutch subjects, with two plaster reliefs of Donatello angels 
and a Bellini madonna between them over the teacher's desk. In the 
fourth room Number 21, over the teacher's desk were hung three 
photographs of ships — the Santa Maria, the Constitution, and the 
modern battleship Massachusetts. Opposite to these are Farragut's 
Victory at Mobile Bay, Sherman's March through Georgia, and a 
peaceful wood scene, with deer, by Rosa Bonheur; two smaller ones 
were already there, hanging on the side opposite the windows. 

The corridors do not lend themselves easily to decoration, so that 
little was done; but half way up the first staircase was a flat surface, 
and on this was put the centre section of the bas-relief of the "Field 
of the Cloth of Gold," from Amiens, the two other sections being 
placed on the corridor wall opposite the staircase. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 245 

114 Beacon Street, April 16, 1907. 
J. Mahoney, Esq. 
Dear Sir: 
I send you, according to request of Miss Silsbee, a list of pictures 
selected for the Quincy School. 
Photographs : 

Amalfi, Italy. 
Murillo — Madonna. 
Woods and Deer (Rosa Bonheur) . 
Three boat pictures — 
Santa Maria, 
Constitution, 
Massachusetts. 
Niagara. 

Grand Canon of Colorado. 

Two — Velasquez (Olivarez and Infant Balthasar). 
Carpaccio — St. George. 
Twelve German colored pictures. 

Sir Joshua Reynolds — Turner reproduction of Angel Heads. 

Yours very truly, 

J. T. COOLIDGE, Jr. 

Statement of THEAStrRER 

Jan. 1, 1905. Dues $641 .00 

Cash from former Treasurer 527 . 85 



RECEIPTS 

1906. Dues $394.96 

Donations 264.00 



PAYMENTS 

1906. Checkbook $1 .25 

Printing 4 . 75 

Carting 4 . 00 

Solar prints and framing 52 . 80 

Flags 37.31 

Treasurer's expenses 15 . 96 

Sculptor 9.25 

Casts 195.00 

Frames 94 . 75 

James Wingate 211 . 75 

Perry School 85 . 15 



1,168.85 



658.96 



1,827.81 



$711.97 

Cash on hand December 28, 1906 1,115.84 

$1,827.81 



246 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Expenses incurred in connection with work on the Quincy and Dearborn schoolhouses 

are as follows: 

April, 1907. Flags, poles, and rings $22.79 

H. R. Turner Co '. . . . 90.44 

Hanging pictures 14 . 65 

Charles E. Cobb 137.00 

To Treasurer for stamps 9.00 

P. P. Caproni & Bro 142.30 

W. H. Pierce 193.75 

Hanging pictures 9.60 

$619.53 

Martha Silsbee, 

Treasurer. 

[Extracts from James Mahoney's report, 1911.] 

The Public School Art League has for twelve years been engaged 
upon the work of providing instructive decorations for the Public 
Schoolrooms of the City of Boston, chiefly in the form of enlarged 
photographs, busts, and bas-reliefs. 

The League is carrying on this important work with only slight 
means at its disposal, namely, the $2.00 annual contributions of its 
members; and it asks for the support and interest of a larger member- 
ship. 

The details of the work will be found on the succeeding sheets. 

Most of our children get their first strong impressions at school, and 
so it becomes a public duty to make the schools and surroundings 
beautiful. 

Children by nature hunger for beauty in some form, and are quick 
to respond to it. By what process shall they be awakened to the love 
of the beautiful in art and nature, and be taught to feel what is really 
fine? 

The Public School Art League has tried to answer this question by 
providing schoolrooms with appropriate works of art, especially with 
photographs and plaster casts of the great and simple pictures and 
statues of the world. It believes that reproductions of works of the 
highest quality should be used in guiding and molding the taste of 
children and in helping them to realize the ideals of humanity. 

The great opportunity which is here offered to improve the children 
by putting them in the presence of beautiful and appropriate subjects 
may be better appreciated when it is realized that each schoolhouse 
averages twenty rooms, with forty or more pupils in each room; that 
in Boston alone 100,000 children spend from five to six hours daily at 
school; how far-reaching such influences must be, and what an amount 
of good can be done by enlarging them ! 

Our new public schoolrooms are comfortable, clean, well lighted and 
ventilated, and the Schoolhouse Commission which has charge of their 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 247 

building and decoration has given the League its hearty support by 
inviting it to select the interior colors and by furnishing appropriate 
colors for the woodwork, desks, and chairs; and in some cases it has 
been able to provide an occasional tablet, bust, stained glass window, 
or cast. But these are few, and the rooms remain more or less bare; 
and it has justly been said that the schoolhouses should be attractive 
as well as healthful. 

"I like to go to school," wrote a child from one of the schools dec- 
orated by the League, "because it has so many large, beautiful 
pictures." 

"I would like to have the picture of Lincoln," writes another, 
"because he stands so good." And another: 

" I like the Capitol because it is so large and beautiful." 

A few such impressions only have been recorded, but we can imag- 
ine how many and varied are the unrecorded expressions of interest 
and feeling on the part of the thousands of children who come under 
these humanizing influences. 

The older schools in more crowded districts need more attention 
than the new ones, because they are often shabby and cheerless, and 
are for this reason frequently chosen for decoration by the League; 
but the work on schools, old and new, is limited to one or two a year, 
because it costs from $400 to $700 to decorate completely one school- 
house by hanging three or four enlarged photographs and perhaps 
one or two casts in every room; and the only source of income for this 
work is derived from the $2.00 contributions of annual subscribers 
who now number 180, and a few gifts from interested friends. 

During the last twelve years, fourteen of the 225 schools in Boston 
have been decorated by the League, each one with some regard to its 
name, associations, and locality. 

The enlarged photographs measure twenty-six by thirty-six and 
thirty by forty inches, and eight inches more in height and width, with 
their mounts and frames. The prices are, for the League, $9.50 and 
$12.75, respectively. They include such subjects as Diirer's Rabbit, 
Millet's Mother and Children, the Sistine Madonna, Velasquez's 
Prince Balthazar on a galloping horse; and photographs and casts 
from the Delia Robbias and other masters for the younger children. 

The other subjects include American ships, the frigate Constitution 
and battleship Massachusetts; a Sioux chief, the Capitol at Washing- 
ton, Mount Vernon, Niagara Falls, the Rocky Mountains, George 
and Martha Washington, Abraham Lincoln; paintings of Benozzo 
Gozzoli, Velasquez, Titian, Reynolds, Millet; the Parthenon, Roman 
Forum, Gothic cathedrals, the Duomo at Florence, grand canals and 
palaces at Venice, etc. 

The plaster casts of sculpture which supplement the larger photo- 
graphs are mainly taken from the Italian Renaissance, and include also 



248 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

portraits of distinguished Americans. They serve chiefly to decorate 
the halls and assembly rooms. 

National and state flags, too, are used for decoration, and to arouse 
patriotism, while certain pictures represent vital scenes in our coun- 
try's life. 

In order that the League may become an important factor in the 
education of Boston, it is essential that the membership should be 
large, and those who believe in the value of school decorations are 
earnestly requested to join the League and to induce others to join as 
well; and gifts of money or work will be very welcome. 

The need of more workers is urgent, and new ideas are necessary 
to broaden the field of the few upon whom the labor has fallen. Sub- 
scriptions or contributions may be sent to Miss Martha Silsbee, 
Treasurer, 115 Marlborough Street, Boston. 

List of Ten Pictures Previously Paid for. Which Were Used in the 1915 Exhi- 
bition, AND Which Were Later Sent to the Washington School 

Duomo, Florence. 

Beehive Geyser, Yellowstone Park. 

Grand Canon, Colorado River, Arizona. 

Imperial Courier. By Schreyer. 

Frigate Constitution. By Marshall Johnson . 

Casa D'Oroa, Venice. 

The Goose Giri. By Millet. 

Age of Innocence. By Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

The Duke of Olivarez. By Velasquez. 

Prince Balthazar. By Velasquez. (Equestrian.) 

List op Forty-two Pictures Delivered to the Washington School, South 
Margin Street, Boston 

Portrait of Charies I of England. By A. Van Dyck. 

Infanta Maria Theresa. By Velasquez. 

Woman Feeding Chickens. By Millet. 

Infanta Marguerite. By Velasquez. 

Group of Angels. Detail of painting by Beato Angelica. 

Facade Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. 

Sphinx and Pyramid, Egypt. 

King Arthur in Armor, Innsbruck. 

Pisa, Church and Tower. 

The Chase. By Wouwerman. 

The Acropolis, Athens, Greece. 

The Queen of Chypre. By Paolo Caliari. 

Concord Bridge Battleground, Concord, Mass. 

Woman and Child. By Frans Hals. 

The Horse Fair. By Rosa Bonheur. 

Bronze Horses on St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice. 

Knight, Death and Devil. Engraving by Albrecht DUrer. 

Feeding Her Birds (Children). By Millet. 

Amalfi, Sicily (Monk sitting in cloister). 

Longfellow-Craigie House, Cambridge, Mass. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 249 

At the Water Trough. By Dagnan-Bouveret. 

Lion. Sculpture by Wappen Gianfigliazzi. 

Coronation of the Virgin. By Botticelli. 

Queen Isabella of Bourbon (on White Horse). By Velasquez. 

Assyrian Marble Slab, Hunting Lions in Chariot. 

First Steps. By Millet. 

Cologne Cathedral. 

Interior of Barn. By Wouwerman. 

The Two Sons of the Painter. By Peter Paul Rubens. 

Portrait of Queen Marguerite of Austria (on Black Horse). 

By Velaquez. 
Portrait of King Philip (on Horseback). By Velasquez. 
Madonna in Wreath of Flowers. By Peter Paul Rubens. 
Bust of Giovanni. (With two cherubim and floral carving.) By Delia Robbia. 
Equestrian Portrait of Charles XV on Battlefield. By Vecelli. 
Madonna and Rabbit. By Tiziano Vecelli. 
Portrait of the Queen Maria Anna. By Diego Velasquez. 
Count of Olivarez (on Black Horse). By Velasquez. 
Vision of Saint Helen. By Paolo Veronese. 
Portrait of the Child Charles-Balthazar. By Velasquez. 
Portrait of King Philip IV (full-length figure). By Velasquez. 
Willem von Huythuysen, Burgher of Harlem. By Frans Hals. 
Portrait of the Prince Don Balthazar. (Figure with gun and dog.) By Velasquez. 
Six from Soule: 

1. Appian Way. 

2. Boats. By Clays. 

3. Houses of Parliament. 

4. Cleopatra's Terrace (Yellowstone). 

5. Rabbits. 

6. Deer in Forest. Rosa Bonheur. 
Six from Cobb. Colored landscapes. 

List of Fifteen Pictures Hung in Brimmer School, Common Street 

Feast of Officers. By Frans Hals. 

Officers (Detail). By Frans Hals. 

Portrait of a Young Woman. By Paolo Veronese. 

Esther before Ahasuerus. By Paolo Veronese. 

Moses Saved from the Water. By Paolo Veronese. 

Madonna with Cuccina Family. By Paolo Veronese. 

Woman Making Omelet. By Velasquez. 

Reunion of Portraits. By Velasquez. 

Henrietta Maria. By Van Dyck. 

Tower of London. 

Surf View. 

Iceberg, Labrador Coast. 

Whaling Vessels. 

Two colored landscape prints. 

Pictures in Thomas N. Hart School, South Boston 

Woman Making Omelet. By Velasquez. 
Madonna and Cherubs. By L. della Robbia. 
Isabella of Portugal. By Titian. 
Isabella d'Este. By Titian. 



250 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Gondola and Ducal Palace, Venice. 
Concord Bridge, Concord, Mass. 
Two colored landscapes. 

Pictures in Skinner School, Corner Church and Fatette Streets, connected 

WITH Brimmer School 

Woman Feeding Hens. By J. F. Millet. 

Girl Carrying Lambs. By J. F. Millet. 

Don Carlos (standing figure). By Velasquez. 

Portrait Duchess of Gloucester (Child). By Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

Sculpture (Cherubs). Master unknown. 

Some work of decoration has been done in each of the following schools : 

Horace Mann, Newbury Street. Ross Turner. 

English High, Montgomery Street. Walter Gilman Page. 

Agassiz, Burroughs Street, Jamaica Plain. Walter Gilman Page. 

Boston Latin, Warren Avenue. Walter Gilman Page. 

Bowdoin, Myrtle Street. Arthur Astor Carey. 

Francis Parkman, Walk Hill Street, Forest Hills. Arthur Astor Carey. 

Phillips Brooks, Quincy Street, Dorchester. Mrs. Sarah W. Whitman and J. T. 

Coolidge, Jr. 
Benjamin Dean, H. Street, South Boston. John Endicott Peabody , 
Frothingham, Prospect Street, Charlestown. J. T. Coolidge, Jr. 
East Boston High, Marion Street, East Boston. John Endicott Peabody. 
Oliver Hazard Perry, 7th Street, South Boston. Mrs. Daniel Merriman. 
Girls' High, West Newton Street. 
Rice, Dartmouth Street. 
Quincy, Tyler Street. 
Lawrence, B Street, South Boston. 
Washington, South Margin Street. 



Under direction of J. T. Coolidge, Jr. 



President — Mrs. Winthrop Sargent. 

Vice-Presidents — Mrs. Charles G. Ames, Mrs. Henry L. Higginson, Mrs. Mary Mor- 
ton Kehew, Miss Ellen F. Mason, Mr. Arthur A. Carey, Mr. J. Templeman Coolidge, 
Jr., Mrs. J. Montgomery Sears, Mrs. Paul Thorndike, Mrs. Kate Gannett Wells, Mrs. 
Roger Wolcott, Mr. Joseph Lee, Mr. J. R. Coolidge, Jr. 

Secretary — Mrs. I. Tucker Burr, 90 Marlboro Street. 

Treasurer — Miss Martha Silsbee, 115 Marlboro Street. 

Executive Committee — Mr. James Mahoney, Chairman; Miss Eleanor Allen, Mrs. I. 
Tucker Burr, Mr. J. Randolph Coolidge, Jr., Mr. J. T. Coolidge, Jr., Mrs. Arthur H. 
Dakin, Mrs. Daniel Merriman, Mr. Henry D. Sleeper, Mrs. Kate Gannett Wells. 



CHAPTER XII 

Poems, Extracts from Letters and Lectures 

The following address by James Mahoney, Head of the English 
department in the South Boston High School, was the first of the 
series given before the League of Catholic Women in the new Cathe- 
dral School, October 4, 1911: 

The English Poet's Debt to the Church 

What do we of today care about the poet, and why should we 
bother about his debts? We of today are practical ; we are busy with 
the important concerns of life, with markets, stocks, railroads, with 
the home and school, with industrial education, business education, — 
and of course we attend to our religious duties. This is the first 
thought. 

Quickly comes the second thought : In this age we must give full 
value to the material world and to practical questions; still we believe 
with the sage that the greatest need of this age is poetry. For true 
poetry is akin to religion, which puts practical matters, with all other 
things, into their proper scale in miiversal values. 

The true poet is he who has deep visions of the universe and of the 
Creator, and who strives to worthily express to others the glories of 
his vision. He who splendidly succeeds in making others share his 
vision is the great poet, and in him the human heart and brain perform 
their highest function. 

Fourteen hundred years ago, on the hills near Whitby, lived Caed- 
mon, a shepherd boy. In the servant's hall, as the harp was passed 
about so that each might sing in turn, Caedmon trembled as he saw 
the harp approaching him. Quickly he stole from the hall, went 
back to his stable, and there he fell asleep. A stranger stood beside 
him in his dream, and bade him sing. 

"I cannot sing," said Caedmon, "and therefore came I hither." 

"Sing," said the stranger; "sing of the glories of creation and the 
wonderful works of God." 

Beautiful verses came to Caedmon's mind; he sang them to the 
servants, and then to Hilda, who was amazed at his genius. She had 
him thoroughly trained in the Scriptures; and, as his imagination 
dwelt upon the Sacred Story, he composed noble poems, which have 
had a permanent influence on the greater poets of the English-speaking 
race. 

Those who have deeply studied the fine arts — painting, sculpture, 



252 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

music, and the like — find their creative source in religion. My 
thought is that literature is also a fine art, and that its highest creations 
have their source in the religion of Christ. 

To prove this claim with regard to English poetry, it is necessary to 
go back in the history of England, to the days before there was such 
a thing as English speech. You are all well aware that the English 
language was nowhere spoken on earth till about eight hundred or 
nine hundred years ago; that it was gradually formed by the welding 
together of various languages, particularly the Teutonic, Romance, 
and Celtic. 

Now my proposition is, that there can be no great poet till there is 
a great language; that there cannot be a great language till there is a 
great people; that there cannot be a great people or a great language 
till there is great intelligence, great ideals, and great national 
character. 

And my special theme is, that in welding together the diverse jacial 
elements into the English people, in the fusion of the diverse tongues 
into the English language, in the training of crude barbarians into 
intelligent beings, in molding the mind and character to the ideals 
of Christ, in creating literary types and in furnishing literary inspira- 
tion, the Church was the dominant influence. 

If this be so, the English poet, in a very true sense, owes to the 
Church his language, his literary art, his poetic ideals, and his 
inspiration. 

In the ponderous history of English literature recently issued by 
the great university of Cambridge in England, the learned editors 
make the following statement in the first volume: "But in the main 
English literature, as we know it, arose from the spirit inherent in 
the Viking makers of England, before they finally settled in this 
island." 

In other words, these authors claim that it is the pagan nature and 
the Teutonic blood of those who settled in England that has in the 
main produced what we call English literature. 

Against that proposition of blood and paganism I would maintain 
the proposition which I have already indicated, and I would now 
word it in this way: In the main, English poetry as we know it 
arose from the spirit, the intelligence, the learning, and spiritual 
devotion of the great churchmen, who taught and civilized not only 
the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, but also the other races whose blood 
was combined with the Teutonic blood, to produce what we call the 
English people, and whose languages were to be developed and com- 
bined with that which we often hear termed Anglo-Saxon, in order to 
produce the magnificent language which we call English. 

Let me begin with a negative proof. In 449 a.d., the Angles, 
Saxons, and Jutes began to come to England, which, during the five 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 253 

hundred years before they came, had been subject to the heavy rule 
of the Roman Empire. Quickly these fierce invaders gained predom- 
inant influence over the old Britons, who for all these centuries had 
been accustomed to obey and not to fight. 

My first question is. What had the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes 
accomplished before they went to England? Everybody knows that 
they had accomplished nothing in the arts of civilized life. They 
were hardy freebooters, accustomed to a wild life, and given to the 
shedding of human blood. They knew not even their letters when 
they went to England. Their religion was a blind worship of the 
crude powers of Nature. They were indeed barbarians; but, like all 
members of the Aryan race, capable of splendid development, if only 
an influence capable of producing development should appear. The 
only art of these Teutons when they came to the island was that of 
war, and this art they constantly plied, slaughtering the old Britons 
and each other, till the missionaries converted them and taught them 
a better way of dealing with their fellowmen. 

From the fifth century onward, for three hundred years, the 
Church, by the admission of all, worked mightily, civilizing these 
tribes; the Irish missionaries in the north of England teaching, 
converting, and unifying the Angles of Northumberland; while 
Roman missionaries in the south did a like work among the Saxons 
and Jutes. 

The fierce wars between the Angles and Jutes, as well as against 
the Britons and Welsh, gradually ceased. Whitby, Lindisfarne, and 
Jarrow in the north, as well as Canterbury in the south, formed centres 
not only of piety and learning, but of literature as well. Manners 
became mild, schools and churches flourished, and in those great 
churchmen who brought about these splendid results, kings found 
their wisest counselors and their best friends. 

An age of peace, with vigorous, stimulating intelligence and high 
ideals, was needed that great poets might appear. And they did 
appear. This is the age of Caedmon and Cynewulf, the first real 
poets of England. 

But soon across the German ocean came new swarms of pagan 
Teutons, this time the Danes, and with them for one hundred years 
the Church is struggling for its life. The growing civilization of 
Northumberland is blotted out, the schools and monasteries become 
a "mass of ashes, slaked with blood." We may well understand that 
now no great poems are being composed in that fair land, and we can 
understand, too, why, somewhat later, the Pope advocated the cause 
of William, Duke of Normandy, in his claims on England. William 
conquered England, and the Norman rule, then established, in a true 
sense continues to the present hour. 

With William and his Norman Frenchmen came in a new type of 



254 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

literary influence, which, in its turn, had been fostered and developed 
in the schools of the Church. 

Thus far it is very clear that the pagan and Teuton influence tended 
only to the destruction of civilization, and not to the upbuilding of 
anything, least of all of that finest product of civilization, — a noble 
literature. 

Please note that it was the Normans who gave England her first 
unified, well-established government, with a well-administered sys- 
tem of laws. The law of the Normans was Roman law; their skill 
in administration was derived from Rome. This stable government 
thus established was one of the strongest influences in producing a 
great nation, a truly great people, and in making a great literature 
possible. Here, again, the beneficent work of the Church becomes 
apparent. Preachers teaching the law of brotherly love softened 
the bitter hostility between the Norman conquerors and the despised 
Saxons. They thus helped to preserve the best elements in the genius 
and nature of the different peoples, which under this benign influence 
were being welded into one. 

Well for us, indeed, it is that we have the Teutonic element in the 
language, — homely, strong, and forceful; capable of expressing deep 
truth and religious sincerity; but it was the Church that saved it 
and developed it. 

Under the Norman rulers, French was long the dominant tongue, 
and French literary art and French ideas were now creative in the 
new language, which, in part Saxon, in part French, in part Celtic, 
and with elements borrowed from every speech under heaven, was 
gradually coming into being, — the newly formed English language. 
The very existence of this new language, the lingua franca, proves 
that civil relations had come to be established between the bitter 
enemies; and, as I have said, this, to a large degree, was the work of 
the Church. 

Literary material must be supplied and long experience in its use 
obtained before any great poetry is possible. Now, English literature 
in its development rests upon the old chronicles, translations, and 
literary models. This literary material was exclusively the work of 
churchmen : for the most part, monks in their cells. The translations 
were made either by churchmen or their pupils, and the literary 
models were Italian, French, Greek, and Roman. 

The Italian influence comes chiefly from Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio 
Ariosto, and Tasso. The slightest acquaintance w'ith these authors 
shows that their inspiration is from the Church. 

The French influence on English literature began with the Normans 
and has never ceased. Sometimes it is great and noble; sometimes 
it is not. When best, it is Catholic; when worst, it is pagan. 

The Greek and Roman models were indeed pagan, but from the 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL ^55 

beauty of their style, the splendor of their language, their influence 
has been most potent in English poetry, and all admit that it was the 
monks copying these works in their cells who preserved these master- 
pieces of style, not only for English literature but for all the modern 
world. Literary form and style has thus come through Church 
agencies into the English language. This includes as well the science 
and art of poetics as the skill which makes a language clear and strong 
in prose. 

As for the poetic art, — no one acquainted with old Saxon poetry can 
fail to recognize that without foreign influence it could never have 
developed a high degree of poetic merit. 

The stoutest advocates of the blood theory innocently express this 
fact in their learned works. Alliteration, on which the Saxons chiefly 
relied to distinguish their poetry from their prose, so fettered the 
poets that a great poem could hardly be produced where the poet had 
no other poetic resource. 

" Piers Plowman " is a good illustration of the point I make. Metre 
and rhyme, essential elements of English poetry, came to the English 
language from Italian, French, and classic sources. 

But blood and language do not of themselves produce literature. 
The Patagonians have blood and language, but they have no literature. 
Inherent in all great poetry is a character and spirit which is the 
creative power within it and which alone makes a work of fine art. 
This character and spirit in the English language is radically and 
emphatically derived from the teaching and doctrine of the Catholic 
Church, working through the complex nature of the diverse peoples 
that had been molded into one nation. 

This character and this spirit has been infused into the noblest 
souls of the English-speaking race; in fact, it is the deepest and noblest 
quality in the character of English-speaking people, and has been 
made manifest in her truest sons in all ages down to the present 
century. In every country its dominant note has been sounded by 
the greatest poets. 

The essence of this spirit is best expressed in the words of the 
Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and in the Highest Law of God, 
as expressed in the words of Christ. For one thousand years, from 
the fifth to the fifteenth century, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's 
Prayer, and the Golden Rule of Christ, were taught by the lips, lived 
in the lives, and sanctified by the deaths of the noble Christian mis- 
sionaries and their disciples who did the work of their Master in the 
British Isles. 

So thoroughly was this teaching done that the religious element 
and the very doctrine of the Catholic Church became the deepest and 
strongest strain in the highest type of English character, showing 
itself in her greatest and noblest men and in the finest work of her 
finest poets. 



256 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

It matters not for the purpose of this analysis whether the individual 
poet called himself Catholic, Protestant, or even, in strange instances, 
by the name of atheist. Deeper than logic, profounder than personal 
consciousness, deeper than all racial feeling, lie these religious ideas 
and sentiments; for they were fused into the very structure of the 
people itself when their character and nature were being molded and 
fixed. 

To prove that this is so, let us analyze the greatest works of the 
greatest poets of English history, testing these works by the concep- 
tions of nature, of man and of God, which the Church has ever taught 
in the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer. 

What is it that these divine classics of the Church actually teach? 
Do they teach that the entire universe consists of dead matter and 
blind force, and that man is but a strange product of these, and that 
at death he is resolved into them again? No, surely; and were these 
the conceptions taught to the growing English race, English poetry 
would have been as dead as this conception of the universe and life. 
I have made a crude attempt to state what those venerable words of 
the Church do actually teach: 

Belief that there is a Supreme Being; 

That He is a Hving, personal God; 

That He has created everything that exists; and yet that 

He is our good Father, Who knows us and loves us; 

That Christ is His Son; 

That Christ's birth was holy; 

That He taught peace and love to all mankind; 

That He gave the most noble example of love in a death of torture 
for mankind; 

That it is possible for us to overcome sin and death, because He rose 
again from the dead; 

That He returned to the throne of God; 

That He will come again to judge all human beings by the law of 
love which He taught mankind; 

A belief in the Holy Spirit of God, which regenerates the souls of 
men who permit the grace of God to enter their hearts ; 

A belief that God Himself established His Church on earth; 

That it is the duty of the Church to teach till the end of time the 
doctrines of Christ; 

That God forgives the sins of repentant souls ; 

That God will raise our bodies again from the dust; 

That our souls are immortal souls; 

That it is man's duty to pray to God as to a loving Father; 

That if we show devotion and love, we may hope for God's grace 
to keep us from sin. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 257 

Now, summarizing these doctrines, we find: First, the Catholic 
conception of God as Creator, Redeemer, loving Father, Love itself. 
Second, all men as created in the image of God, children of God; 
hence, brothers; the true basis of a real world democracy. Third, 
sin as disobedience to the law of a loving God, and the consequent 
need of atonement. All living creatures as creatures of God, and 
the earth and the heavens as the dwelling place of the Eternal. I 
now assert that these fundamental conceptions, as always taught by 
the Catholic Church, are the fundamental conceptions in the greatest 
works of the greatest authors in all ages of English literature, and that 
the poets obtained these conceptions from the Church itself. 

Let us begin with the Anglo-Saxon period, so called. The task here 
is easy. Up to the time of the coming of the Normans, there is not a 
shred of writing, literary or otherwise, which is not the writing of a 
churchman. 

Let us consider some of the more famous works : Beowulf is often 
spoken of as the pure product of paganism, but whatever pagan ele- 
ments there are in it, it is certainly true that there are also Christian 
elements in it; and, of course, it was a Christian scholar who put it 
into its present shape, and of course it was the Church that preserved 
it, for she was the only guardian of learning and of books. 

The Exeter Book, practically a summary of all Anglo-Saxon poetry 
up to the tenth century, was the gift of Bishop Leofric, first bishop of 
Exeter, to the Cathedral library. The titles in the index furnish 
almost sufficient evidence of the source of these poems : The Nativity; 
To Christ; To the Virgin Mary; TheSoul's Address to the Body; etc. 
Catholic in subject and in theme, almost from beginning to end. 

With the Normans came in lighter love songs and the like, but all 
their greater works were religious in nature. This was the great 
period of the chronicles, the mystery, miracle and morality plays, 
which continued down to the age of Elizabeth, laid the foundation for 
dramatic literature in England, and made a Shakespeare possible. 

It is hardly necessary to say that those are the works of Catholic 
clergymen. 

We now approach the age of Chaucer. With him begins English 
literature, properly speaking. The thousand years that precede 
Chaucer are years of preparation. The English people was in process 
of creation, and the elements of the English language and the rudi- 
ments of the poetic art were being slowly developed; but in Chaucer 
we have a poet of high rank. Some of his poems are often quoted to 
prove that he was hostile to the Church. I believe a more careful 
reading of his poems will show that his criticism is directed not against 
the Church but against false men, who would use the influence of the 
Church for their personal gain. 

As for his conceptions of true religion, where can one find a nobler 

18 



258 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

tribute to the parish priest than in his account of the Persoun of a 
Toun? Shallow scholars used to translate "persoun" by the word 
"parson," but Skeat and other leading students of Chaucer, show that 
"persoun" means, of course, "parish priest." 

What sensible person could suppose that they had "parsons" in 
those days? But whatever may be the interpretation of Chaucer's 
poems, we must not forget that his poetic inspiration is chiefly bor- 
rowed from Italy, that his master was Boccaccio, and Boccaccio's 
inspiration proceeds from Dante, whose poems, I think, might be 
defined as Saint Thomas' "Summa," that is to say, the doctrine of 
the Church, set to music. 

Contemporary with Chaucer were William Langland and "Ancient" 
Gower. 

Langland's Piers Plowman is often cited as a criticism of the Church 
but those who make the statement forget that all he knew he got from 
the Church; that he had himself taken minor orders, and that the 
Piers Plourman is his humble attempt to show how Christ would judge 
the earth were He to come again, 

Gower's great poem in English is the Confessio Amantis. I need 
hardly say more about this than to mention the fact that it is a long 
poetic treatise on the seven deadly sins. Where do you suppose he 
got that.f* 

Sir Thomas Mallory's Morte d' Arthur, according to the British 
Encyclopedia, — surely an authority which would not unduly favor 
the Church — has had greater literary influence on English prose and 
poetry than any other single work, save the Bible alone. Any one 
who is familiar with this work is well aware that its substance is the 
doctrine and ritual of the Church, treated with a mystic tinge and 
poetic colors by brilliant Celtic genius. 

You are also well aware that to Tennyson it was the most fascinat- 
ing of all subjects; that for fifty years he was ever pondering upon 
it, and that his Idyls of the King is but the poetic version of it. 

As we approach the age of Elizabeth, we find the Italian influence 
becoming stronger, appearing especially in the work of Wyatt and 
Surrey, Lyly and Sidney. The Italian influence is at its greatest in 
Edmund Spenser, the great poet of the The Faerie Queene. This 
work, — The Faerie Queene — is often instanced in proof of Spenser's 
deep hostility to the Church, but it is of little consequence in this 
connection what Spenser's intention may have been, for the poem 
itself reveals the influence of the Church in every page. So freely 
had he availed himself of its treasures that many of the pages of the 
Faerie Queene are little more than translations of the Italian poet 
Ariosto. 

But putting Spenser aside, the age of Elizabeth is pre-eminently 
the age of dramatic poetry. I have already shown how dramatic 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 259 

literature had been developed in extraordinary degree among the 
English people by the miracle, mystery, and morality plays, which 
issued directly from the resources of the Church. 

From the earliest ages, the teachers of the Church had employed 
the play as a realistic means of teaching the common people the stories 
and truths of Scripture. The galaxy of dramatic stars which crowned 
the age of Elizabeth seems almost superhuman; indeed, when we 
speak of the immortal Shakespeare, we commonly think of him as a 
being unique, original, and unaffected by aught save his own supreme 
genius. 

A closer study shows that each of these dramatic authors is not only 
a product of his own age, but that he is a true son of the literary ages 
which preceded him. This statement applies to William Shakespeare 
as truly as to any other member of the immortal group which includes 
the great names of Webster, Peele, Greene, Kyd, Marlowe, Beau- 
mont, and Fletcher. 

Let us consider in what way the influence of the Church directly 
affected the life and writing of this greatest of all literary masters. 
First, I believe he owed the Church something in his very blood. The 
best critics are agreed that in the blood of Shakespeare there was an 
unusually large Celtic element; that his genius was Celtic rather 
than Teutonic. His birthplace at Stratford-on-Avon was in that 
part of England where the Teutons and Celts mingled with least 
bitterness, and the amity between them is due, as I think it can be 
shown, very largely to the doctrine of peace and good will taught by 
the Church. 

Furthermore, the Celtic strain in his blood, developing into the 
supreme Celtic quality in his genius, came forth by the magic wand 
of that Christian power which raised the Celtic stock from petty 
warfare to noble conceptions of life and to intellectual power. Further- 
more, Shakespeare like all other writers, had to make use of literary 
material, chronicles, translations, legends, — and I have already 
shown the source of these. 

We often hear of Shakespeare's work as ignoring morality and 
religion. A more shallow criticism never issued from a shallow brain. 
His writings are saturated with religious conceptions. Let me quote 
passages giving Shakespeare's conception of Sin: 

"Heaven forgive my sins at the day of judgment." 

— Merry Wives of Windsor, III, 3. 

"Even that falsehood in itself is sin. It thus purifies itself and 

turns to grace." — Ibid, V, 2. 

"Thy manners must be wicked, and wickedness is sin, and sin is 

damnation." — As You Like It, III, 2. 

"Self-love which is the most inhibited sin in the Canon." 

— AlVs Well that Ends Well, I, 1. 



260 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

"I would not have you think that my desire of having is the sin of 
covetousness." — Twelfth Night, V, 1. 

"God forgive the sins of all these souls." — King John, II, 1. 

"I am stifled with the smell of sin." — King John, IV, 3. 
"Oh, God, defend my soul from such deep sin." 
"Foul sin gathering head shall break into corruption." 

— Richard 11,11, 1,5. 

"Is in your conscience washed as pure as sin in baptism." 

— Henry V, I. 

"Sins such as by God's Book are adjudged to death." 

— 2nd Henry VI, II. 

" Wert to renounce his baptism, all seals and symbols of his redeemed 
sin." — Othello, II, 3. 

Something of Shakespeare's conception of the doctrine of Immortal- 
ity may be derived from the following passages, hastily selected: — 

"Such harmony is in immortal souls." 

— Merchant of Venice, I, 1. 
"I hold you as a thing enskyed and sainted by your renouncement, 

an immortal spirit." — £nd Henry IV, II. 

"Her body sleeps in Capel's monument and her immortal part 

with angels lives." — Romeo and Juliet, V, 1. 

"For my soul what can it do to that, being a thing immortal as 

itself." —Hamlet, I, 4. 

"I have lost the immortal part of myself and what remains is 

bestial." — Othello, II, 3. 

Something of his idea of Saints may be judged from these: 

"And is she not a heavenly saint?" 

— Two Gentlemen of Verona, II, 4. 

"To be talked with in sincerity as with a saint." 

— Measure for Measure, I, 4. 

"I conjure you by all the saints in heaven." 

— Comedy of Errors, IV, 4. 

"The prayers of holy saints and wronged souls like highreared 
bulwarks." — Richard III, Y. 

"She kneeled and saint-like raised her fair eyes to heaven and 
prayed devoutedly." — Henry VIII, IV. 

His reverent thoughts of Christ may be seen in these : 

"Fought for Jesu Christ in glorious Christian field." 

— Richard II, IV, 1. 

"And his pure soul unto his Captain, Christ." — Ibid. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 261 

"As far as to the sepulchre of Christ." — Henry IV, I, 1. 

"Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ." 

— Ibid, III, 2. 
"Christ's mother helps me, else I were too weak." 

— 1st Henry VI, I, 2. 
"As you hope to have redemption by Christ's dear blood." 

- — Richard III, I, 4. 
"By Christ's dear blood shed for our grievous sins." 

— Richard III, I. 
"And effaced the precious image of our Redeemer." 

— Richard III, II. 
"The world's ransom, blessed Mary's Son." — Ibid. 

As for the name of God, as reverently used in Shakespeare, enough 
quotations could be quickly culled to fill a good-sized volume. The 
quotations thus hastily gathered, which I have given, I think suffice 
to show that Shakespeare is by no means lacking in Catholic con- 
ceptions. 

But a deeper analysis of Shakespeare's works will show a greater 
debt of gratitude to the Alma Mater of English literature. Such an 
analysis will reveal that the greatest of Shakespeare's plays are morality 
plays, most skilfully illustrating the principles of the older morality 
playwriters in the development of character. It is generally conceded 
that Shakespeare's greatest works are Othello, Lear, Macbeth, and 
Hamlet. Let us analyze these. 

Othello is a profound study of the passions of love and revenge in 
the Moor, of hate and revenge in lago, and of bestial gluttony in 
Cassio. The old writers on the seven deadly sins could not preach 
more powerfully upon these passions. 

King Lear is a study of vanity and covetousness, particularly of 
covetousness, filling the soul, narrowing the heart, narrowing the 
intellect, destroying sense of obligation and sense of duty — these 
members of the seven deadly group are here powerfully illustrated, 

Macbeth is a study of covetousness for another's honors and position, 
hardening the will, stealing the intellect, destroying all the gentle 
impulses of the soul, and leading to dust and ashes. 

In Hamlet covetousness for the king's throne and for his royal wife 
led Hamlet's uncle to murder Hamlet's father; and the burden of 
revenge, another deadly sin, is laid upon the noble soul of Prince 
Hamlet, a burden almost too great for his gentle heart and mind. 
All human reason, — the counsel of his father's ghost, the dear remem- 
brance of his murdered father, — all urge him to revenge. Conceptions 
of life, of death, of God, and the universe, surge through the brain of 
the troubled youth, and he can hardly bring himself to the execution 



262 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

of his sworn revenge. A more terrific study of this most deadly of 
the seven deadly group seems hardly possible to man. 

Were there time to consider the other plays of Shakespeare, I 
believe that the greater ones would bear similar analysis. 

But, says the critic, in John Milton we clearly have an author of 
the first magnitude, bitterly hostile to the Catholic Church, and 
without obligation to it. But this statement will not bear analysis. 
His poems, both minor and major, from beginning to end, indicate 
his debt, L' Allegro and II Penseroso give a beautiful contrast 
between the shallow life of the senses and the deep religious life spent 
even in a monk's cell, with the hairy gown, contemplating the works 
of God; Lycidas gives splendidly the Church doctrine of immortality; 
Comus is a poetic treatise on chastity — ever demanded by the Church; 
Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained in their very titles indicate their 
origin, and in the former it seems most probable that Milton was 
under obligation to the shepherd Caedmon, who wrote the Fall of 
Man. 

The Hymn of Christ's Nativity is a most splendid expression of our 
Church doctrine. 

We need not linger long over the writings of the greatest poets 
which follow Milton in the period of the Restoration and the reign of 
Queen Anne. Their names are, of course, Dryden and Pope. They 
were both Catholics, but I have never been able to convince myself 
that in them the doctrines of the Catholic Church have received their 
deepest interpretation or their best poetic form. 

Wordsworth's conception of Nature furnishes probably his greatest 
poetic charm; and what is his conception of Nature .f^ It is that the 
universe is the living garment of God. Some of his shorter and 
better-known poems express quaintly and beautifully the belief in 
the immortality of the soul. 

Coleridge is certainly one of the greatest poetic geniuses, and you 
will agree, I think, that his greatest poem is The Ancient Mariner. 
What is the interpretation of that poem? It is that sin is the violation 
of God's law of love and of obedience to His command; that when 
the soul is stained with sin, the entire universe becomes putrid, and 
in it the sinner himself is the most loathsome thing of all. Regenera- 
tion begins within him when, by the grace of God, he can bless God's 
creatures, he becomes filled with a deep sense of sorrow and contrition 
for his sin, and then by the sacraments of the Church, he becomes 
cleansed and healed again. 

Of the poets of the nineteenth century, Tennyson, I believe, will 
continue to hold highest rank. His greatest works are In Memoriam 
and the Idyls of the King. His In Memoriam is an elaborate explana- 
tion of how the life, death, and resurrection of the Saviour is our only 
solace in the death of a friend. Of his Idyls of the King I have already 
spoken. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 263 

Cardinal Newman justly ranks among the finest masters of English 
style. He is a true poet, too. His hymn, Lead, Kindly Light, surely 
entitles him to such rank. And surely Cardinal Newman would not 
deny the source of his inspiration. 

Of the lesser poets, we might say much, but perhaps here it will 
sufiice to say 

"Hither, as to a fountain, other stars repairing. 
In their urns, draw golden light." 

Not blood, then, nor paganism of certain Teutonic tribes, but the 
spirit of God, as revealed in the teaching of the Church and in the 
noble lives of her saints, scholars, and martyrs, has been the potent 
influence in the development of English poetry through the centuries. 
Race and blood are, indeed, mighty in history; but it was the Church 
that was the preserver of races and of bloods, and the developer of 
national genius and national languages, not alone through the training 
of the intellect, but especially through the development of conscience 
and by the doctrine of love. 

Race is, indeed, a mighty word, — but the conception of humanity 
as a confraternity of brothers, inspired by the love of God who created 
them, cooperating in all good work for the love of God, preaching 
God's praises in noble works of prose, or singing His praises in immor- 
tal works of verse, is a far grander and more powerful conception. 

Even the secular history of the world shows that this is true. It is 
neither right nor wise nor yet prudent to despise any of God's crea- 
tures, be they white or black or brown; be they Saxon, Celt, or 
Mongolian. 

The white Russian learned to respect the little brown man of Japan 
when he met him in the whirling storms of battle on the plains of 
Mukden; and the Englishman felt no racial contempt for Germans, 
Scotch, and Irish, who broke the charges of the Old Guard on the 
field of Waterloo. 

But in a higher realm than politics or war, the poets of English 
literature are preaching the doctrines of the Church, and especially, 
in the words of Tennyson, that far-off divine event to which the whole 
creation moves. 

The School of To-day 

I went into the club-house of the Mercantile Library Association in 
Boston the other day, and found that the heat had driven away every- 
body but Mr. Hammond, a retired business man. He was glad to 
see me, as he is a famous talker. He threw his leg over the arm of his 
chair, and began to tell me of his early life. It appeared that he was 
fonder of fishing than of schooling when he was a boy; and yet from a 
poor boy in Vermont he became a prosperous shipbuilder in Boston. 



264 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

"Why," said he, "I was so ignorant when I came to Boston I had to 
stop to spell out the words." "How was it you succeeded?" I 
asked. "Well," said he, "I had a ivill to do anything." His reply 
seemed sensible. Surely he did not succeed because he could not read 
well. Men like Mr. Hammond, — as a rule aged men — are not alto- 
gether rare in America. With little education they have succeeded 
in business, and they feel that education may be very proper, but that 
it is not very serviceable. And from their point of view there was 
reason in their opinion, distorted to be sure. The older education was 
chiefly a means to supply the professions. Doctors, lawyers, minis- 
ters and school teachers were, of course, needed; but everybody 
could not belong to the professions. The mass of the people would 
have to depend on other things for a livelihood. 

What could the public schools do for that great public, which has 
but little taste for medicine, theology, or pedagogies? How could 
the young people be trained so as to serve themselves and their fellow- 
men better? An attempt to answer this question is revolutionizing 
both the objects and methods of teaching in the United States. The 
active majority in this country have always believed that some form 
of education could be made of great service; and have continued to 
support their belief by a yearly expenditure of millions of dollars. 
This modern spirit of utility is changing the entire machinery of edu- 
cation — school committees, superintendents, teachers, school-houses, 
even, as well as the courses of study. School committees, realizing 
the need of having some one, skilled person, to give all his attention 
to school management, generally employ a superintendent. He is a 
modern invention. As a rule he is an expert, and is expected to 
familiarize himself with the most advanced methods here and abroad; 
and to inspire his teachers with enthusiasm. The teachers, too, are in 
the forward movement. With no disrespect for any teacher of the 
past, it can be safely stated that the average teacher is now better 
fitted for the work. The large number of normal schools, and special 
training schools, is a proof of progress. Teaching is no longer a win- 
ter makeshift for young statesmen; the majority of the male teachers 
of the country have chosen it as their life work. The increasing 
security of position in all the better communities warrant them in 
doing this, and to that degree, stability and efficiency are added to 
the teaching force. 

The home of education, the schoolhouse of to-day, is another 
proof of progress in its very construction. The small class-rooms, — 
no longer permitting ninety pupils to a single teacher, — the con- 
venient laboratories, all well heated, lighted and ventilated, are an 
advance beyond the little red schoolhouse on the hillside; and also 
beyond the big but badly planned structure that came after it. But 
it is particularly in the course of study that the spirit of the time is 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 265 

shown. This country's advantage consists in her great natural 
resources. To teach how these may be utilized is more and more the 
object of the newer education. Hence have arisen manual training 
schools, institutes of technology, industrial and trade schools, busi- 
ness colleges as well as the increased attention to natural history and 
science in the regular curriculum. 

The attitude toward the pupil has also changed. To take his 
place among the manifold activities of the time, each must hold his 
natural bias at its best. The path of the scholar is freer, and more 
inspiring, and the rod holds a modest place in the background. The 
juster education of woman, too, is a growth of these recent years. 
"Let her use her talent too in every way she can," is the bidding of 
the newer education. Thus higher possibilities are opening up before 
the youth of America, but there is danger, too. The little red school- 
house produced men, at least. May the newer education of to-day 
produce nothing less noble. 

The Church 1789-93 

With Special Reference to the Question, "Did the Development of the 

Civil Constituiion Influence the Church Organization?'''' 

It is clear that to answer this question it is necessary to answer 
much more. That there was such an influence might be probable, 
but it is improbable that it was the only influence and to understand 
its nature it is necessary to understand the forces at work and their 
conditions; i. e., it is necessary to know religious conditions of the 
country at that time, and something of its pioneer church history. 

First of all we must remember that those who made this country 
what it became were patient with the wilderness that they might have 
freedom of conscience and religion. 

The names of the sects who fled to America bring vividly to mind 
the tremendous religious conflicts of the old world : Puritans, Presby- 
terians, Quakers, Baptists, Huguenots, Saltzburgers, Lutherans, 
Moravians, German Reformed, Dutch Reformed, and Roman 
Catholic. Perhaps all but the Episcopalians came here especially 
for conscience sake. 

It will be well to take a hasty review of the denominations in the 
colonies. The Puritan settlement of New England is familiar and the 
founding of Rhode Island by the Baptists, but by the middle of 
the seventeenth century there were several thousand Presbyterians in 
those states, and by the Revolution, a few Episcopalians. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church became dominant in the middle 
and southern states and at the Revolution was either established or 
oflScially countenanced in all those states except Pennsylvania. But 
there were vigorous dissenting bodies, notably the Presbyterians and 
Baptists, the former probably having much influence in the middle 
colonies. 



266 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

The Quaker must not be overlooked, — who settled Pennsylvania, — 
nor the Huguenots who more perhaps than any other gave spiritual 
life to the South, nor the members of the Dutch Church who settled 
New York, nor the Roman Catholics who had founded Maryland, 
but were now reduced to a mere handful. 

In New England if narrow and proscriptive the church had been 
intense; in the other colonies if the established church was lax many 
of the dissenting churches were not lacking in zeal. It was but 
natural, perhaps, that as their colonial life with all its diflBculties 
extended, their practice of religion should lose something of its early 
fervor, but in 1740 et seq. a revival, called the "Great Awakening," 
spread through all the colonies. It reunited the dry theology of 
New England and stirred the sluggishness of the Episcopalians. But 
a long period of decline followed. Soon came the French and Indian 
War and close upon it the Revolution, when civil affairs excluded all 
other thoughts. 

A clergyman notes the ardor for war and says, "Would to God 
they were as zealous for the things of religion." 

At the Revolution the most important churches were these: 

Church Statistics 1775 
Sects Ministers Churches 

Congregationalists 575 700 

Baptists 350 380 

Episcopalians 250 300 

Presbyterians 140 300 

Lutherans 25 60 

German Reformed 25 60 

Dutch Reformed 25 60 

Asso. Reformed Church of the South, Presby- 
terian 13 20 

Moravians 12 8 

Roman Catholic 26 52 

Total 1,441 1,940 

Though church statistics of this period are to be taken with much 
allowance, yet it seems clear that the Congregational Church was by 
far the largest and most influential, followed by the Baptists, Episco- 
palians and Presbyterians who were not very unequal in point of 
number of churches and ministers. 

It is to be remembered too, that on the eve of the Revolution the 
Congregational Church was established in all the New England 
states except Rhode Island, and in the middle and southern states 
excepting Pennsylvania. The Episcopal Church was either favored 
or supported by government. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 267 

During the Revolution the churches (the Elder Adams cautioned 
the Abbe Mably not to undertake the war of the Revolution without 
first mastering the church system of New England) became tridy 
militant, nearly all the churches entering powerfully into the war 
and fighting for the colonies, except the Episcopalians (who, however, 
had notable exceptions) and these were loyal Britons. 

But the effects of the Revolution on all the churches were extremely 
severe. Young men had been called away from home to camp; in 
places, congregations were entirely broken up; churches had been 
burned or turned into barracks and hospitals; while, I suppose, the 
moral repression that comes when slaughter is the business of men, 
was not the least of the evils. 

But hardly was the peace declared when the churches began to form 
anew and continued till the second great religious revival of 1792-96, 

To understand this re-organization it is needful to follow the growth 
of the individual churches while noting the agencies acting on all. 
The Episcopal Church lost by the revolution its establishment in the 
south, and its official countenance in New York and New Jersey. It 
then became necessary for it to reform if it were to exist. Its clergy 
were hated in New England and many of them despised in the South 
for their sordid lives. 

But the church of Clarkson and Wilberforce contained too much 
good to entirely perish in the states. 

Soon Bishops Seabury, White, Provost and Madison were con- 
secrated, conventions held, a new church constitution adopted 1789, 
and the Episcopal Church began a period of prosperity such as it had 
not known before. It had to reform or perish and its able clergy and 
good organization saved it. 

Perhaps its movements were quickened by the rapid increase of 
Methodists, who but lately had styled themselves Episcopalians. 
The growth of this body may be seen by these figures: 

Iten. 
Year preachers Members 

1776 24 4,921 

1786 117 20,569 

1796 293 56,664 

with probably as many more local preachers. In 1773 it had but 6 
circuits; in 1792 it had 136 extending from beyond the St. Lawrence 
to Savannah, Ga., and from eastern Massachusetts to western Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee. 

It would appear that the special cause of its growth, was, first, the 
youth and zeal of its preachers; second, the homely, moral nature of 
their preaching was such as to particularly appeal to the masses who 
were tired of war and sick of theology. 



268 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

I do not find that the development in the Congregational Church 
was of the same nature as the others. It may be said to have had its 
growth. Dr. Hurst, it is true, declares its revival pervaded all 
classes of the people, but Punchard's remark is to be noted, " that in 
point of fact Massachusetts gathered fewer churches between 1790 
and 1800 than during any previous ten years for ninety years." 
Massachusetts was (its development perhaps, was spiritual rather than 
structural) brooding over a new denomination. 

The advance of the Baptists may be seen in these figures : 

Year Churches Ministers Members 

1784 471 424 35,101 

1790-92 891 1,150 65,345 

The Revolution was a deliverance to the Baptists from restriction, 
north and south, and they together with the Presbyterians were Jef- 
ferson's supporters for religious toleration. Its structural develop- 
ment in New England is noteworthy. 

By 1793 it had in those states alone 13 church associations, repre- 
senting 312 churches and 23,638 members. 

Diman declares its growth was due, first, to personal experience of 
religion as a condition for admission. Second, "Lovely preaching," 
i. e., an unlettered clergy, contrasted, e. g., with the Congregational- 
ists who required their ministers to be well educated. 

The Presbyterians were among the first to reorganize. In 1785 
the Synods of New York and Philadelphia began to take steps toward 
revising the public standards of the church. 

A large committee was appointed, presided over by Dr. Wither- 
spoon, who had represented New Jersey in the United States Con- 
gress for six years. In 1788 the revision was completed, and in 1789 
the first General Assembly was held. Dr. Witherspoon's congres- 
sional experience was no doubt important but the success of Pres- 
byterianism is rather to be sought in sturdy zeal of the Scotch and 
Scotch Irish and its strong organization, which now was less 
restrained. 

If there was anything in which the colonies seemed to agree it was 
in the hatred of Catholicism, and yet when the Revolution broke out 
the Catholics faithfully supported the American cause. One signer 
of the Declaration of Independence was a Catholic, and a Catholic 
priest had been a member of the delegation sent to Canada. 

In 1784 the Catholics petitioned the Pope for an American vicar- 
apostolic and Fr. Carroll was appointed, and in 1789 was raised to the 
Bishopric on account of the growth of the church. The reasons which 
this clergyman, himself, assign for the growth of the Catholic Church 
are, first, the religious toleration of the United States Congress ; second, 
greater toleration, especially for Catholics because, first, of their zeal in 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 269 

the Revolution; second, the aid of CathoHc France weakened preju- 
dice; third, the desire for aid or at least neutrality from Canada which 
contained many Catholics. To which might be added the fact that 
Fr. Carroll drew to his aid the powerful order of Jesuits. 

Having seen the particular causes acting on the different denomina- 
tions, what shall we say were the general influences? 

1st. The force of reaction in the American character which was 
undeniably moulded by religious influence. Remember that for 
thirty years religion had been neglected. 

2d. The religious toleration necessarily allowed by the new con- 
stitution. This toleration had a double influence (a) in allowing 
freer action to the genius of each denomination and (b) it gave 
freer play to the element of emulation. 

3d. The effect of the Revolutionary struggle in, first, increasing the 
travel and communication between the different parts of the country; 
second, the greater toleration of the sects for one another from fighting 
in a common cause; third, the free and independent spirit, if I may 
term it so, which they acquired from Revolutionary principles. 

The petition of the Baptist clergy to the Massachusetts legislature 
has these words: "Our real grievances are that we as well as our 
fathers have been taxed on religious grounds where we were not rep- 
resented," etc. 

The Methodists, at one of their meetings, use this language: "We 
view it as contrary to the golden law of God and the inalienable rights 
of mankind as well as every principle of the Revolution," etc. 

A resolution of the Episcopal Convention, in Massachusetts in 
1784-85, begins, "Voted that the Episcopal Church, in the United 
States ought to be independent of all foreign authority." 

4th, The air could not have been filled with talk of civil constitu- 
tions without suggesting similar church organizations, especially 
when members of the civil conventions were also church members, 
and it is to be remembered that the toleration of the Constitution 
by no means severed the connection between church and state in the 
different states. They were not separated in Connecticut till 1816, 
nor in Massachusetts till 1833. So that if I were to shortly answer 
the question with which I began, I should say that the influence of 
the Constitution on church development was by no means the con- 
trolling one but that it did act as a suggestive. 

A New Business Life for North Brookfield 

Last Wednesday morning, at half past seven, two red deer came 
out of the woods, eastward of my home, crossed the pasture, whisked 
their tails merrily through the long grass in the meadow, skirted corn 
fields, and disappeared in the direction of New Braintree. Perhaps 
it was the long continued bad weather; perhaps it was the many 



270 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

stories about the prospects of North Brookfield that had given me the 
blues; and I began to morahze as follows: 

"Is the day, indeed, coming when the red deer may roam un- 
troubled through the wilds of North Brookfield ; and, perchance, wan- 
dering tribes of summer boarders pitch their camps on the spot where 
once stood our prosperous Big Shop? " 

Many similar questions have been seriously asked; and many times 
dismal prophecies have been spoken. Early last spring, a former 
resident of our town met me in Boston, and assured me that the shop 
was about to close, and that it would never again re-open for business. 

Some months later, I met an old and experienced business man of 
Spencer, who positively declared that not only was the business of 
North Brookfield gone forever, but that all other boot manufacturing 
towns of New England were doomed to the same fate. 

With all respect to those gentlemen, and that kind of prophecy, let 
me venture to give you my reasons for thinking them absolutely mis- 
taken. Suppose, for an instant, that we were deprived of every vestige 
of business, the framework of Nature's architecture would still be 
left to us: the hills, the valleys, the glens, the woodlands; fair as the 
Highlands of Scotland, gentler than the mountains of the Swiss; 
beauties so rare, so unique, that weary men of wealth seeking the 
summer charms of a quiet rural home, would be won forever, were 
those charms but properly heralded abroad. 

Nature gives us, too, our farms. Notwithstanding all our rainy 
weather, the fuel of the sun is not yetljurned out; and the good lands 
of our town will still bear crops, abundant enough to support a popu- 
lation much larger than North Brookfield has ever known. Men 
who know whereof they speak declare that the margin of profit on 
the big farms of the west is constantly failing, and that the day is not 
far distant, when the eastern farmer who knows his business and his 
land can freely meet his western brother with many products in many 
markets. 

As for the boot and shoe trade that is now stagnant everywhere, 
stagnant I mean as compared with former days of activity. Men 
speak of western and even of southern competition. But can it be 
that New England, which has taught bootmaking to all the world, 
now falls breathless before western competition, or any other com- 
petition? Absurd! Of course there is a lull in the production of 
boots and shoes; and it is also true that certain localities are now 
manufacturing some of their own boots and shoes, whereas, formerly, 
they bought all from us. 

But the difficulty of the hour does not come from that cause. Think 
for a moment what a tremendous power to produce exists in our 
enormous boot factories, and, think further, how that power to pro- 
duce has increased during the last twenty-five years throughout New 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 271 

England, especially in Massachusetts; while the population of North 
America has not increased in any such proportion. Besides all 
industries are being readjusted, under the rolling wheels of capital, 
which seeks always the most profitable investment. 

The boot and shoe industry is subject to the laws of finance. This, 
at least, is certain: People will continue to wear boots and shoes; 
they wear out rapidly and have to be renewed; and there is no part of 
the world where they can be made to as good advantage as in New 
England; and in no town in New England to better advantage than 
in North Brookfield, though, possibly, the methods of doing the 
business may have to change. 

But wider markets are needed. The United States should have 
closer commercial relations with all the world. There is no good 
reason why the Big Shop might not pour its products into Germany, 
France, Austria, China and Japan. Perhaps, even the Filipinos can 
be taught to wear boots and shoes. It is particularly true that, on 
the continent of Europe, the boots and shoes are distinctly inferior 
to ours and made, too, at a higher cost. We have seen and know this 
to be a fact; and our consuls abroad are forever urging this. But 
how shall these larger projects be financed.'^ 

It is the brain power of New England's sons that dominates the 
finance of America — perhaps it would be true to say the finance of the 
world — today. Do you suppose that the sons of New England will 
leave New England itself out of the reckoning? Let industry read- 
just itself and all legitimate lines of business in New England will be 
financed. 

At the present moment the business men of the town itself, are 
amply able, when they see fit, to take up again the old industry; and 
add new industries as well. I am sure the chairman of this meeting 
alone could do that. The railroad and the waterworks must not 
exist in North Brookfield in vain. They are too expensive a luxury 
for the farmers alone. 

North Brookfield is not going to disappear from the map. Her 
history is imbedded in the history of the United States. The monu- 
ment in the yard outside is a proof in granite that this town has 
freely shed her blood for the National Government; and the National 
Government owes it to North Brookfield and her sister towns to guide 
our commercial policy into closer business relations with the nations 
of the world so that the genius of New England for industry may have 
its natural opportunities. The voice of North Brookfield, and that 
of the many towns like her, should be louder in our National councils. 
Are we Democrats.? Are we Republicans? Let us at least make 
sure that the prosperity of our homes, and our town, commands our 
united support. 

Then, in a high spirit of co-operation between employers and em- 



272 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

ployees as well, the hum of our factories will again be music in our 
ears, and North Brookfield will be the Queen of the Hills, as of yore. 

Work and Working People 

The old Greek philosopher, Aristotle, said, "There is motion: 
therefore there is a God." The keen-minded Greek believed that 
active power was a proof of divinity; and we have but to observe 
and think to see that the mighty Being that works beneath the moun- 
tains and rules behind the clouds manifests Himself to us in never 
ceasing action. The growing trees, the changing seasons, the restless 
ocean, the whirling globe itself, all proclaim an infinite impelling 
energy. 

We are told this Being made man in his own likeness and hear 
the command which some would call a curse: "By the sweat of 
thy brow shalt thou earn thy bread." Such was the command of 
the Deity to him who represented the human race. 

Whether poverty nurse thee or wealth fondle thee; whether thy 
brain be strong with genius or poorly commonplace; whether thy 
limbs be those of a giant or of a weakly boy or girl, if thou dost not 
earn thy bread thou shalt eat my curse with every crumb; if I give 
thee the means of life thou must earn thy right to live, move, think, 
work. 

What then is work? What is its object? What should be its 
reward? 

Work is exertion more or less skillful to satisfy a need. 

Since the exertion must tend to a definite result it must be con- 
trolled by skill and directed by intelligence. For forces working at 
random mutually interrupt and destroy one another. The biggest 
booby that ever caught a wasp by the tail had some skill else he could 
not have done as much as this. Not only does Intelligence look 
backwards, producing skill in the work, but it looks forward con- 
trolling the work according to the need for the product. For unless 
there is some need for the goods it is as useless to produce them as 
to read a sermon to a minister or a lecture on temperance to a doctor. 

What then are the conditions that make it possible to do work? 
Health and strength of body, health and strength of mind. What is 
necessary for health and strength of body? Tolerable capacity, 
proper food, exercise, clothing and an avoidance of hurtful agencies. 

What is necessary for health and strength of mind? Tolerable 
capacity, proper food, exercise and training and an avoidance of 
hurtful agencies. 

What then should be the reward of work? "By the sweat of thy 
brow thou shalt earn thy bread." "The laborer is worthy of his 
hire." 

Clearly the laborer should have, in the first place, enough to pro- 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 273 

vide him with food and clothing to enable him to continue his work; 
in the next place the same for those dependent upon him, further- 
more enough to guarantee training of body and mind for his children 
and those dependent upon him and beside such comforts and stores 
necessary to adorn and secure human life and such as the dignity of 
manhood deserves. 

If honest labor cannot commend these it is because the Creator 
has dried up the fountains of life or it is because human agencies are 
opposing the end of life. It cannot be but that this broad and fertile 
earth has enough in its bosom for all the children of men. Why, put 
all the millions of the globe into the state of Texas and there would 
be two or three acres for each. 

Judging from the powers of man and the ample riches of nature 
the retired student might presume that all who wished to prosper in 
this world prospered if they worked. 

But the traveller need not go from the United States, prosperous 
though they be when compared with other countries, to see that such 
is not the fact. 

Even in the smaller towns one often sees young children, little 
boys and little girls, clad in coarse and broken clothes — no childlike 
looks, no buoyant youthful actions, no rosy cheeks and sparkling 
eyes; but on their features hard toil has stamped his mark, dampened 
the spirit and deadened the eye. You say to yourself: "Something 
is wrong here." But when you travel the country over from town 
to town and city to city and find everywhere thousands upon thou- 
sands working in misery, living in hovels, dying in poverty, you say 
to yourself "The world is out of joint." What causes this? 
Can it be improved? The temperance advocate will tell you in- 
temperance and there is reason in what he says. Time, money, 
health, strength, body, soul, wife and children cast to the devils 
for rum. 

What causes this? 

The religious advocate will tell you irreligion, and there is much 
truth in what he says. For he who does not worship God is likely to 
honor neither himself nor his fellow men. Then comes sloth, vice, 
crime, a filthy body, a dirty soul; habits vile and criminal. 

But still you feel that your question is not fully answered. Espe- 
cially when you yourself know of men anxious to succeed, seeking 
work and cannot find it. When you read of Burns, the London 
socialist, addressing thousands of workingmen out of employment. 
When you know that in this prosperous country, which according 
to the last census, paid 950 millions of dollars as wages in 1880, 
notwithstanding that the great body of wage laborers earn but a 
scanty living, honest and industrious and on the whole quite tem- 

19 



274 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

perate, yet working as hard as the horse in the cart and getting Uttle 
more and not sure of that. 

Your suspicion that there is a social wrong here increases when 
you read in the same census report that the earnings of the railroads 
for the same year were 230 millions of dollars. When you know 
that all the great industries of the country are controlled by monop- 
olies enabling a Paine to earn his millions, a Gould his tens of millions 
and a Vanderbilt his hundreds of millions; while round about the 
laboring poor eke out a scanty living. 

Ask the modern scientist the cause of this and he will tell you it is 
a result of the struggle for existence. Just as dogs scramble for a 
bone and he with the biggest jaws and strongest paws is apt to get 
the meat, so men in active life fight with one another and the strong 
shoulder the weak aside and seize the good things of life. You will 
see much to favor this view in the street, in the store, in the workshop, 
in the market, in every sphere in life. In action the tight lip, the 
tense muscle, the stern eye, bent on grasping, when and where he 
can, and some even suspect that the ready smile and the long-winded 
prayer are but secret means for selfish gain. 

Apply this now to business. 

The animating principle of business is "Look out for number one." 
Its invariable method is competition. What is the result? Inherited 
wealth, or good luck, or greater ability, or, all combined give some 
the advantage, then they pull by sheer force even security for the 
means of life from the multitude. 

The greater capitalists pluck the smaller capitalists by competition, 
then they compete with one another or else combine in monopolies 
all-controlling, forcing labor down to the point at which it is most 
advantageous to themselves. 

What point is that? 

Just high enough to keep laborers in existence to do their work 
and no higher. The instruments of modern civilization, the steam- 
boat, the railroad, the telephone, the telegraph are in the hands of 
monopoly, giving it a force that is simply stupendous, reaching over 
the sea and over the land, so that instead of saying "The earth is the 
Lord's and all that is therein," we might almost say "The earth is 
Monopolies and all that is therein." 

Such is the state of affairs in this country and we have been a nation 
only about a century. If matters go on at this rate who will say 
what the condition will be at the end of another century? Unless 
systems change the condition can at least be guessed at. The tend- 
ency of capital is to accumulate power, the tendency of such power 
is to tyrannize; tyranny produces opposition. So our country will 
separate as it is separating into two classes — the Rich and the Poor, 
filled with opposing passions like two neighboring thunder clouds. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 275 

'That there is a similar state of affairs in England we may see when 
we remember that more wealth has been accumulated in England 
during this century than during all the centuries that precede it, 
though the poor have not become much better off, as we may judge 
from the words of Mr. Bradlaugh. He asks, "Why is it that human 
beings are starved to death in a wealthy country like England, with 
its palaces, its cathedrals — with its grand mansions and luxurious 
dwellings — with its mills, mines and factories, with its enormous 
profits to the capitalists, with its broad acres and great rent rolls? 
The fact that men, old, young and in the prime of life, that women 
and that children do so die is indisputable." 

You will think of this all the more when you read in the papers of 
the 19th of the present month that Mr. William Johnston urged, in 
the British Parliament, that the queen be recommended to appoint 
a day for national humiliation and prayer, because of the distress 
prevalent among the poor and unemployed of the laboring classes. 

According to the reports presented by C. D. Warg {?), 1885, 
1,000,000 laborers are always out of employment in the United States. 

Such is the situation in England and America which represent the 
world in commercial progress. Can this situation be improved? I 
suppose that in every age there have been plans and experiments for 
regulating the commercial relations of men. These may be roughly 
divided into two systems, first, Socialism; second. Co-operation. 

Socialism would entirely reorganize society and would make land 
and wealth the property of the state, which would use the land and 
wealth for the good of all, since it is for the good of all that it exists. 

Co-operation would allow individual wealth but would substitute 
universal combination for universal competition. 

There have been many socialistic plans and many socialistic com- 
munities. One of the most famous socialistic plans is given in Plato's 
Republic written before the birth of Christ. 

Plato's Republic (taken from T ). 

His state is to be composed of three great classes: husbandmen, 
artisans and defenders. He gives to each that single employment 
and particular art which is best suited to his nature. 

The guardians are to defend the state from enemies, internal as 
well as external, and have no other employment. They are to be 
merciful in judging their subjects of whom they are by nature friends, 
but when they came in the way of their enemies in battle they are to 
be fierce with them. Since these are to be gentle to their friends and 
fierce to their enemies, they must be gifted with wisdom. All are to 
be trained well in gymnastics and music, that is, in mind and body. 
All pursuits are to be open to women ; there are to be no private mar- 
riages, and the land is, of course, to be held in common, since in the 
state everything is to be for the good of all. 



276 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

In the time of Henry VIII of England, Sir Thomas More wrote his 
Utopia, intended rather, it would seem, to point out the hardships 
of the poor than to prove the possibility of his own scheme, which 
was this. 

Morels Utopia. 

Seated inMore's garden, a companion of Amerigo Vespucci describes 
the island of Utopia, its people and institutions. The island is in 
shape like a new moon. Between the horns of the crescent is a fine 
harbor, the rest of the coast is destruction to ships. The island is 
five hundred miles in circuit and contains fifty -four fair cities, all 
situated alike. Its capital is Amaurote, situated on a hillside and 
well supplied with water. The people elect their rulers, every thirty 
families choosing a phelarche. Over every ten phelarches there 
is a tranibore. All the phelarches, two hundred in number, elect 
the prince, who, if just, rules for life. Every third day the tranibores 
consult with the prince about public matters; and all matters are 
weighed thoroughly and executed in season. All the people, men 
and women, are good farmers, and everyone is instructed in one or 
more crafts beside according to his talent. The chief business of the 
officers is to see that the people are industrious. These work nine 
hours and sleep eight and the rest of the time is spent in eating, study- 
ing good literature, and in recreation. Their property is held in 
common; they eat at public tables. If one city lacks anything they 
are supplied by a neighboring city, free of cost, and they themselves 
supply others who may be in need. But want is rare among them 
for they are diligent and provide for the needs of two years in advance 
and never squander their substance. The meaner utensils of the 
house they make of gold and adorn their slaves with gold. So it is 
held in great contempt. They put diamonds upon their children 
and when they grow up they think jewels childish playthings and so 
neglect them. 

Thus avarice, a great curse of mankind, is unknown among them. 

They consider pleasure the end of life, but consider what most 
people regard as pleasure to be very injurious and so not to be 
pleasure. 

They regard culture of the mind a great pleasure and so are well 
versed in music, logic, arithmetic, astronomy and good literature; 
they believe good health to be the greatest pleasure of the body. 
They make criminals their slaves, yet they treat them considerately 
and will free them for good cause. 

They are very attentive to the aged and the sick. They preserve 
the marriage tie and grant divorces with great caution. 

They wage war only against the unjust and conquer their enemies 
quite as much by craft as by bravery. 

There are many forms of religious belief among them, but since 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 277 

they all believe in a Supreme Being they worship together in churches, 
darkened so that they may give their thoughts wholly to meditation. 

Since More's Utopia many other realms have been created in litera- 
ture, picturing some far away imaginary land "where perfect social 
relations prevail and human beings living under an immaculate 
constitution and a faultless government enjoy a simple and happy 
existence." 

Among those who have had visions of happiness for mankind are 
Francis Bacon, Campanella, Moreilly, Saint-Simon, Fourier, Robert 
Owen, Mario, Cabet, Louis Blane, Lasalle and Karl Marx represent- 
ative leaders of thought. Some of these like Saint-Simon would 
attain their object by peaceful means while others would attain their 
communistic heaven by making the present world a hell. Karl Marx 
declares: "Our objects can only be attained by a violent subversion 
of the social order." As Dr. Kaufman says: "Social reforms he 
regards as a mere farce and the efforts of trades-unions to bring about 
a satisfactory adjustment of the claims of capital and labor, he calls 
treason. What he wants is not reconciliation of conflicting interests 
but war to the knife against Capitalism which is to end in the triumph 
of labor," 

The central idea of Marx's system is that capital is robbery, ob- 
tained by idle persons, and is made possible by the fact that laborers 
produce much more than they are paid in wages. To illustrate, in 
1880 in the United States the value of raw materials was 3,396 millions 
of dollars, the value of products was 5,369 millions, while 950 millions 
were paid in wages, leaving 1,053 millions for capital. So Marx 
argues that Capital is robbery, and raises the war cry of "Down with 
capita], let society be overturned." 

There have been many actual attempts to establish socialistic 
communities: Among these may be mentioned the Essenes, an 
early Jewish sect, the early Christians themselves, and in our own 
country the Shakers, the Amanites, the Economists and many other 
small communities, numbering perhaps altogether three or four thou- 
sand souls. 

But these, though interesting trials, seem wholly insufficient to 
remedy the great social evils of the world. The mop is useful, Mrs. 
Partington, but don't try to mop out the Atlantic Ocean. For More 
well said: "It is not possible for all things to be well unless all men 
were good, which I think will not be yet these good many years." 

Co-operation recommends itself to the judgment in preference to 
Socialism. It does not seek to overturn the present system in fury. 
It is unfortunate that capital should be controlled as at present but 
on the other hand the prosperity of a country may also be meas- 
ured by the amount of its active capital, and capitalists are not 
infrequently the hardest working broadest-minded men in their 
communities. 



278 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Furthermore co-operation does not dampen individual ambition. 
Socialism would make all things common and many suspect that this 
would break the mainspring of exertion. 

Besides co-operation has been actually tried in the business of the 
world. It has been largely successful and promises more. 

In England, Scotland and Wales, in 1883, there were 1,209 societies 
with a membership of 685,000 with a capital of 80 million pounds and 
a sale of goods amounting to 27| million pounds' worth of goods. 

In Germany, during the same year, the number of members was 
1,200,000 with a capital of 10,000,000 pounds of their own. They 
did a business of one billion pounds during the year. These figures 
are very eloquent. Under our present system the wonderful sight is 
often seen of overstocked warehouses, a glutted market and a starving 
population. Under co-operation this would be avoided, for the prod- 
uct would be brought forward not by speculation but to meet a 
demand that would be carefully ascertained beforehand. Co-opera- 
tion promises to destroy the old enmity between capital and labor. 
For the people in union would furnish the capital and would them- 
selves be the laborers. In fact, if we consider, we will perceive that 
every great work is accomplished by some form of co-operation. It 
is by union of efforts that our churches are sustained and our country 
preserved in time of war. These great combinations of workingmen 
that are at present laying strong hands upon capitalists show the 
power of co-operation and may yet prove to workingmen and capital- 
ists, too, that labor and capital must co-operate to avoid the moral 
of the Kilkenny cats. 

But no plan of socialism or co-operation can make men always happy 
or free their life from pain. This world is dust laid on rocks of granite, 
and we must be grimed with dust and on the granite we must lay our 
head. But unless it is the devil that guides the universe, the skill of 
the hand and the sweat of the brow should earn the bread of life and 
win some smiles from a favoring heaven. 

James Mahoney. 



The following are very brief extracts from a few of the letters 
James Mahoney wrote home while studying abroad, 1895-96. The 
letters he wrote home, from abroad, in 1885 were accidentally 
destroyed. 

A traveller has good cause to envy the birds that go about so freely 
unhindered by baggage. 

A trunk is enough to make one have unpleasant thoughts toward 
gravity, making everything have weight according to its well-known 
outrageous formula. 

I had sent mine on from Bale to Maintz, intending to follow it 




JAMES MAHONEY 
When a Student at Berlin University, 1896 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 279 

when I got ready. So I could enjoy myself more heartily and I 
think become better acquainted with the German soldiers who were in 
my compartment. 

A glimpse of the Black Forest recalled incidents of the late war with 
France, in which some of my companions had served. One of them, 
whose pleasant face and bright blue eyes make me like him, told how 
he became promoted. "We were making an attack near Paris and 
thought we were going to get along finely and have it all our own way, 
when suddenly the French started up from behind a hedge and opened 
fire on us. Our men, who were nearly all quite young, turned around, 
and as they were about to run away I put my hands up to my mouth 
and shouted, 'Stop, children, the balls are going over your heads.' 
After the battle which turned out in our favor I was made lieutenant," 

After staying over night at Heidelberg and driving up to the old 
ruined castle (a luxury for which the coachman modestly charges 
four marks), stopping again at Strasburg to see its cathedral and 
climb up four or five hundred feet of steeple to enjoy the prospect 
and imagine how Goethe felt under similar circumstances, I reached 
Maintz and was told that the trunk had not come. 

The steamboat station was on the other side of the city and in ten 
minutes it would be time for my boat to leave. However, I went 
with the baggage master and found the trunk lying down contentedly 
in a remote corner as trunks are apt to lie in a German station. 

I told the porter to get a good coach as I was in a terrible hurry. 
The horse he selected was much opposed to running, but it did not 
matter for the boat, equally opposed to flighty movements, was late. 
But who would wish to hurry down the Rhine? An artist whom I 
met told me that he had already spent four months journeying down 
the beautiful river, winding about through hills clad in the garments 
of summer and crowned with castles. 

With proud hearts let the German sing "Die Wacht am Rhein," 
praising their valiant youths who guarded this fair river against 
zealous foes. 

Here is the Niederwald with its lofty monument; here is Saint 
Goar's, famous for that "sweetest lassie Lorelei." 

Here is "Bingen whose soldier lay dying in Algiers" to which the 
soldier's thoughts who lay dying at Algiers turned with longing. All 
along is the fatherland. 

Central-Hotel, Berlin, 

July 21, 1895. 
I spent the better part of the forenoon Friday in the National 
Gallery in London. 

There are a great many of the old masters there. Landseer's 
"Dog," and "Horse Fair" by Rosa Bonheur pleased me most. 



280 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Landseer has many there. So has Titian, Andrea del Sarto, 
Rembrandt, Raphael, Fra Angelico, Michael Angelo and nearly all 
the famous masters. 

There were many artists there copying. 

Left London, yesterday, at 8.30 A. M., reached Queensboro about 
10 A. M. and crossed the Channel to Flushing; the Channel was quite 
rough. I came nearer to feeling sick than I did on the Atlantic. 

The wind was against us and we were twenty minutes late. Our 
train had left, i. e., the fast through train for Berlin, and we had to 
take an accommodation train. So instead of getting here at 7 A. M., 
the regular time, we got in this evening. 

Does mother think we played a joke on her by not telling about my 
coming? 

Note: James kept his plans from mother, well knowing that she would be extremely 
anxious until she heard of his safe arrival in Berlin. He used the same consideration 
in returning and reached home most unexpectedly. 

Berlin, July 31, 1895. 
I like this place where I am stopping fairly well. But think of 
their meal hours. 
They eat as follows : 
First breakfast, about 6.30 A. M. 
Second breakfast, 10 A. M. 
Dinner, at 2.30 P. M. 
Coffee, at 4 P. M. 
Supper, at 8.30 P. M. 

So far I have had my breakfast about 8.30 (nothing warm except 
cocoa). Then I go downtown to the University or the Library, get 
a little lunch while there; take their 2.30 dinner (hot), and then do 
my best to keep alive till 8.30. 

The people are quite pleasant. But hardly one of them can talk 
a word of English. But I can make myself understood quite well in 
German, and of course I need the practice. 

This morning, as I was going to the University in the car, two young 
men came in and were talking English. I spoke to them. I told 
them it seemed good to hear that language again. 



Berlin, August 2, 1895. 
Here it is Sunday again, and no letters yet! If I had thought, I 
would have had you begin writing soon after I left home, and have 
you send the letters to me Poste Restanie. But when I left I didn't 
feel quite certain how long I would stay in London. I think now that 
I shall stay here the whole summer. I shall have the use of the 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 281 

Library. It is a fine one — about twice as many books as in the 
Boston Library. 

I will tell you about the floors in a German house. No one hires a 
room on the first floor. The Portier or janitor lives there. To get 
in you ring and press against the door which opens. You go up a 
short flight of steps — that lands you on the Hochparterre where I live. 
The next floor is called Erste etage; the next zweite etage and so on. 
The house is built around a little garden, called a hof, in the center of 
which are little trees and shrubs. My windows look out on this hof. 



40 Pessauer Strasse, Berlin 
Sunday, August 11, 1895. 

Five weeks yesterday since I left Boston; and five weeks last 
Wednesday morning since I left you and Fanny in West Brookfield! 

It doesn't seem exactly real that I am so far away, seems as if I 
needed only to take the train for an hour or two to get home. I 
have met several Americans here. Friday night I was going along 
the street when someone stopped me and said, "You know me, my 
name is Breck.'*" I had seen him a good many times in Boston. 
He was in Amherst, too, one year while I was there; though I didn't 
know him then. 

Berlin, August 14, 1895. 

It is raining this morning, and so I will write in the forenoon instead 
of the afternoon. 

It rains here at least a little about every day. But today it looks 
as if it would not clear up during the day. 

I think I have not written about my visit to Mrs. Moulton, in 
London. You remember Mr. Ward had given me a letter of intro- 
duction, I sent that with my card — it was a Thursday — and the 
next day I received a cordial reply. She said, "Any friend of Mr. 
Ward's must be most welcome to me." It was her reception day. 
The house was crowded. I did not stay long. 

I think I told you that the oldest son of the family I live with 
is a fine scholar. He is employed at the New Museum. His spe- 
cialty is the Chinese language. He has done some fine work. They 
invited me the other day to go with them to a suburb called 
"Schlachten See." They all were pleasant. 

I have been wondering whether you have done anything with 
botany or forestry this summer. Since coming here I have seen 
nearly all the flowers that we have at home: Geraniums, pinks, 
pansies, asters, balsams, poppies, petunias, fuchsias, roses, marigolds, 
and those long spikes the name of which I always forget — lily family, 
light red, small tubular flowers — oh, I remember — gladiola. The 



282 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

trees are nearly the same, too, birch, oak, pine, chestnut, etc.; but 
above all linden. 

Have not got a syllable yet from home. Hope to very soon. 

Berlin, September 1, 1895. 

These are great days in Germany. They are everywhere celebrat- 
ing the victories that they won over the French twenty-five years ago. 
Today and tomorrow are "Sedan" days, that being the name of the 
battle in which they decidedly conquered the French. The most 
prominent French general was McMahon (afterward president of 
France) who was of Irish descent. He was defeated, of course, but 
his troops were greatly outnumbered by Germans. 

Today, a celebrated memorial church — very near here — in honor 
of Emperor William I (Emperor at the time of the war) was dedicated. 
The Emperor was to be there, and so I went out thinking I might 
catch a glimpse of him. A great crowd lined both sides of the street, 
but I managed to get a good place, close by the road. Officers in the 
gaudiest of uniforms kept coming along in carriages, but all at once 
came a troop of horsemen, next a man in a red uniform, and then the 
court carriage containing the Emperor (William II), the Empress, 
and two of their sons. He sat up stiff as a ramrod touching his cap. 
She was bowing and seemed pleasanter. 

Berlin, September 4, 1895. 

We have been having great times here for the last few days, celebrat- 
ing the victories won against the French in 1870-71. Sunday and 
Monday, September 1 and 2, were the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
the Battle of Sedan. I have told something about the Sunday 
celebration. Monday forenoon there was a great parade of the troops 
— at first in a large open field outside the city, which is called Tempel- 
hof er Feld. Every spring and autumn a parade of troops is held there. 
As this is famous the world over I thought I must see it. I went out 
in a Droschke, i. e., an apology for a hack. I was a little late, but I 
saw a good deal of it. You ought see to all the soldiers — blue uni- 
forms trimmed with scarlet; great troops of cavalry, plumes waving 
on their helmets; long lines of artillery wagons, with cannons on 
behind. They could kill any number of men in a little while. 

The Emperor was there, too, riding on ahead, on a nice looking 
pony. In the evening there were illuminations in the city and the 
people of the house invited me to drive with them about the city and 
see it. The houses were all lighted up, many having burning designs 
in light, and others red and green fire. 

It was very pleasant out, and moonlight too. The Victory Column 
in the Park was all lighted up ; also the great arch of the Brandenburg 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 283 

Gate; and the Parliament House was a blaze of red fire, flaming on 
the roof. This of course gave out smoke and cast shadows; and from 
the street across the River Spree, looked quite grand. 

We could scarcely get through the streets there was such a jam of 
people. Yet nearly all were quiet and good natured. When we got 
into the broad street called "Under den Linden " the people suddenly 
rushed to one side — the street is a double one, a sort of a park being 
in the middle — and cried "The Emperor." We were on the outskirts 
but we could see the white plume of his helmet as his carriage flew 
through the crowd. 

Berlin, September 8, 1895. 
I went to Charlottenburg, a place in the suburb. Charlottenburg 
Castle is very old and interesting, and has many portraits — several 
of Frederick the Great, and one of Queen Anne of England. The 
Mausoleum, or Tomb of William I, and Queen Louise is close by. 

Berlin, September 18, 1895. 

I received quite a compliment for my German yesterday. Most 
of the summer I have been reading the German by myself and speak- 
ing it whenever I got a chance. 

But I saw that I would have to take lessons in writing it. So I 
have taken a few lessons from Frau Kessler, an old experienced 
teacher. She told me yesterday that she had never met an American 
who had so mastered the language as I. And she had known and 
taught a good many Americans; and one, in particular, had been here 
for years. She said that you can always tell them by the wrong 
sounds of the letters that they give, but that I gave the sounds 
entirely correct. It pleased me a good deal. 

I take my exercise regularly every day. Do you? 

Berlin, October 27, 1895. 
That drawing of the gentian came the other day. It is quite good. 
I like to get those flower-drawings. The fringed gentian was my 
favorite flower when I was a boy. I always thought it was the finest 
thing to find one over in the pasture. I used to find them in the 
little pasture just beyond the knoll. The blue was especially nice 
when the dew was on it. 

J. M. has marked the following lines in Bryant's poems, "To the Fringed Gentian," 
I would that thus, when I shall see 
The hour of death draw near to me, 
Hope blossoming within my heart. 
May look to heaven as I depart. 

I have now arranged my courses at the University. The philosophy 



284 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

of law, international law and ethics. Nineteen hours already are 
arranged for all in the philosophical department, and three of private 
work I will probably add to that. 

Berlin, October 2, 1895. 

Next Saturday, 9 A. M., it will be just thirteen weeks since I left 
you at that dock in East Boston — more than three months. 

We had a baron here to tea the other evening. He comes from 
Baden, the same state as Mr. Wallroff . He, too, was a soldier with 
Maximilian in Mexico. A countess lives next door. The Miillers 
know them and I suppose I shall soon meet them. 

Berlin, 
Sunday P. M., December 8, 1895. 

I hope you went to hear Paderewski. I heard him two years ago 
in Boston, It was the finest music (instrumental) that I ever heard. 

The letter which I write next Sunday you will probably not receive 
till after Christmas. I shall be away over Christmas. It makes me 
feel a little blue. It is the first, of course, that I ever spent away from 
home. 

Berlin, December 11, 1895. 

I went to the Reichstag (Parliament) meeting, Monday. It is a 
fine hall where the members meet. There are 397 members, elected 
from all over Germany. Instead of having two great parties, as in 
the U. S., they have thirteen factions, as they call them. At the 
present time the Catholic party (called the Center party because they 
sit in the center of the hall) is the strongest. The president of the 
Reichstag is a Catholic. One of the photographs is of the building 
itself. I think you will get this letter just about Christmas. Well, 
I can't be there anyhow. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to 
all. I often think to myself and wonder if I am really here, or only 
taking an afternoon nap and dreaming it all. 

I have been at my wit's end, for two or three days trying to think 
what to send home for Christmas. I must post this and go to the 
stores again. 

Berlin, Sunday P. M., December 15, 1895. 

I am glad you went to Boston and to the theatre. When I first 
went to the theatre, I used to think it was sin! Now, I think one 
ought to go once in a while. A good time is a good thing if it is the 
right kind of a time. The chief actress must have been Olga Nether- 
sole. She is very good and — pretty too. 

I sent you a little package of photographs (Berlin views) the other 
day; to Kate, a breast pin and earrings (garnets), to father a knife, 
and to mother (third package) three silk handkerchiefs and breast 
pin. I write all about these so that if they are lost, I can look them 
up. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 285 

Berlin, Sunday P. M., December 22, 1895. 

Next Wednesday is Christmas day ! 

I liked your last letter. It was well written — easy. And praised 
me so much. My, what praise Dr. Morgan gave me ! 

Several evenings ago there was a rap at my door; and in came Herr 
Wallroff. He didn't know why I hadn't called, etc. His wife was 
waiting downstairs. They invited me to visit them. Friday I went. 

They make the greatest preparations for Christmas here. Every 
family has a Christmas tree. 



Berlin, January 1, 1896. 

Happy New Year ! 

Last night is what they call here Sylvester Evening. They are very 
lively. Everyone stays up till midnight, and in the street they go 
about shouting "Prosit Neujahr" ("Happy New Year") to everyone 
else. The noise is kept up till two or three o'clock in the morning. 



Berlin, January 5, 1896, 
You will be surprised at my next sentence. Mr. Wallroff is dead 
and was buried today! He had a stroke of apoplexy in the city and 
was hurried home where he soon died. I couldn't believe my eyes 
when the news came. 

It was only a week ago Friday that I was out there. He came out 
with me and helped me down the steps, and shook my hand and said, 
"Auf widersehen." He was an enormous man, strongly built and 
not fifty years old. I went to the funeral services in the house today. 
The coffin was piled with flowers (I sent a wreath, too) and the house 
filled with people. 

Berlin, January 14, 1896. 

This morning as I came along the famous street called "Unter den 
Linden" it was lined with people at both sides. I found that the 
Emperor had just passed, and they were waiting to the see Chinese 
prime minister, Li-Hung-Chang, pass along. 

Generals, etc., kept going in carriages, the Empress with some lady 
rode by. Prince Henry, the Emperor's brother; and then we waited. 
Pretty soon a drove of lancers (mounted soldiers carrying lances 
with little banners on them) appeared, and in the midst of them in a 
carriage was Li-Hung-Chang. A large man for a Chinaman, and 
quite old but having a bright intelligent face. 

General Grant said when he went around the world, that the two 
greatest men he met were Bismarck and Li-Hung-Chang. 



286 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

February 5, 1896. 

This morning after my lecture at the University, I went to the 
funeral of the Prince of Battenburg! The funeral service rather, for 
he died in Africa. Do you know who he was? He was an empover- 
ished German prince who married Beatrice, the daughter of Queen 
Victoria. 

The Emperor attended the service here. His pew was only a little 
way from the one that I sat in. 

Seen so close he looks stouter than I had thought him to be. The 
quickness with which he knelt and stood surprised me. I think he 
would beat you at gymnastics. He did it like a flash. 

The entire British embassy was there, including the English 
ambassador. Lord Granville, and a lot of young officers, who strutted 
around in uniforms — but they acted as if they felt that they were 
"showing off." 

Berlin, February 12, 1896. 
Tonight I am going to the Ball ! The Emperor is to be there and 
everybody worth seeing. 

It's to be the great event of the season and I thought I would have 

to go. 

***** 

Last Sunday I returned the call of those reverend fathers — the 
friends of Father Garrigan — and was well received. They live in a 
Catholic hospital. It is quite a fine building. 

***** 

Have you heard of the new discovery in photography? They can 
now photograph through solid substances, a man's bones for instance, 
through his body. 

Berlin, Germany, 
Sunday, A. M., February 16, 1896. 
Dear Mother: 

/ have been to the Ball, and I have been anxious to have Sunday 
come so that I could tell you all about it. Well, to begin with, I hesi- 
tated about going because the tickets were expensive. But then I 
reflected that I hadn't been out much, and that this was a very 
important occasion. Then Dr. Barrows, an acquaintance, asked me 
to go with him. He said he could get tickets through a friend of his. 

That was good because tickets are often engaged months in advance. 
Well he got the tickets and called for me. I was already dressed in my 
best. 

We came to the Opera House. A crowd was waiting at one of the 
doors. Someone said, "That door over there is open." They rushed 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 287 

like mad people for that door. A woman ran against me like a 
football player and knocked me flat on the sidewalk. She didn't stop 
to apologize. Well we got inside. 

Every seat in the House seemed to be taken already, and there are 
three balconies at that. Many were already on the dancing floor. 
That was directly after the opening of the doors at 7.30 P. M., and 
the dance was not to begin till 9 o'clock; by half past eight the floor 
was so crowded that you couldn't drop a peanut-shell down between 
them. 

I had a good place to stand, elevated three or four feet above the 
dancing floor, and there I stood from 7.30 till 10.10. So I had a 
chance to look around. There was the House, first of all, to see. It 
had on its best clothes, too— out in the corridors, wreaths of palms 
and ivy trailing along; inside, large bunches of roses, and two foun- 
tains in the rear surrounded with palms. 

The House itself is decorated in white and gold, red hangings for 
the boxes, and angels and such figure paintings flying around on the 
ceiling. 

Then the people. The women were a majority. Silks and laces, 
and diamonds. The dresses were neat. The colors, white, pink, 
light blue, yellow, and some blacks. 

Among the men some swallowtails, but more uniforms. The 
officers were all there — blue trimmed with red, uniforms, mostly, 
and breasts covered with brass and medals. At 9.10 a host of princes 
and princesses swept into the boxes, the Empress leading them. She 
is quite handsome, and majestic, and she looks good too. She bowed 
in all directions toward the House and sat down. 

Her dress.'* Well, that surpassed all the others. It was white silk, 
embroidered and diamonds stuck all over it wherever they could 
find a spot. Around her neck, the William Order, made of diamonds, 
and a jaunty little crown on her head all made out of diamonds. 
Well, she looked just lovely. 

Then they crushed back the people a little under her box and in 
the cleared space three couples began to dance and kept it up for an 
hour, two orchestras, one at each end of the Hall, giving the music. 

Meantime I got a little peek at the Emperor, who stood back in the 
box with a red uniform on. 

At 10.10 the Empress got up, bowed in all directions, and then left. 
Everyone was disappointed, because they expected the Emperor and 
Empress to lead in at least one polonaise. 

But the dance went on. Many left the hall and then wider space 
was cleared for dancing. I got a seat and looked on. I stayed 
till the last galop, i. e., till 2 A, M,, and then I made a dash for my 
overcoat. I had a very nice time. 



288 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Don't forget your breathing exercises, nor your gymnastics, nor 
to take a walk every day. 

How is everybody? Love to all. 

Good bye for today, Mother, 

Jim. 

Berlin, Sunday P. M., March 1, 1896. 

Does it seem possible that we have March again, and that I have 
been here since last July, and that the Atlantic Ocean is between me 
and North Brookfield? Well, I guess it is so. This morning was one 
of the finest that one could see; and this evening it is snowing. 

I met some acquaintances of the Catalonia last Tuesday. They 
invited me to call. So I went around this afternoon. They seemed 
very nice. 

The Dutch people just passed my door. They were probably going 
to the theatre (open Sundays here). They go almost every night. 
But they stay only about a month. I don't see how they stand it. 

March 8, 1896. 

Just had dinner. We had a great discussion at dinner today. I 
argued with an Armenian and a German painter. It was a philosophic 
discussion. 

I was surprised to find myself talking German very fast. So I said 
to the Armenian, "This is fine German exercise for me." Then they 
paid me a number of compliments. Of course I was very much 
flattered. 

This Armenian is a very smart fellow. He looks like the pictures 
that one sees of eastern patriarchs — long, narrow face, bushy gray 
hair, and beard and very large brown eyes. 

Do you know something about the Armenians? For several 
months past the Turks have been murdering them. They are a very 
old race of Christians living in Asia Minor. The Turks are Moham- 
medan you know. 

I wrote a couple of letters to the Boston Transcript about them. 

Berlin, Sunday P. M., March 29, 1896. 

That pen-ink sketch of yours came the other day. I showed it to 
all at the breakfast table. They all thought it very good. Only 

Mrs. — , the painter's wife, who always wants to find fault, said 

it ought to be done in color, I said, " She can do it in color too, but 
generally takes larger pieces for that." 

I have been invited out this afternoon, and it is about time to 
start. So I must make my letter short. 

Oh, I went to the Herren-house the other day. It is mostly c om- 
posed of members of the nobility and upper classes, mostly bald- 
headed men. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 289 

April 1, 1896. 

Everyone is playing April-fool jokes in the house today. A 
Norwegian girl, at the breakfast table, had some coffee poured out for 
her. Before she came in they had put salt into the cup. She took 
a sup and said, "Oh, my!" Then the little Englishman called for 
his eggs. They were brought in in egg-cups. He took up his 
eggs but found that the meat had all been taken out on the other side. 
The painter after breakfast knocked at my door, and asked me to 
read an article, which was simply nonsense. 

I got a little box downtown that would explode when opened and 
gave it to him. 

Berlin, April 12, 1896. 

I went yesterday morning to visit the "Rathhous," that is the City 
Hall; and in the afternoon I visited an art exhibition. 

In the City Hall there are some fine decorations, or paintings, done 
right on the wall. There are busts of their prominent men — particu- 
larly Bismarck, Moltke, the different emperors — at every turn. 

The City Hall is kept up in style I tell you. It doesn't reek with 
tobacco smoke like the Boston City Hall. 

The name of the gallery is the Schulte Exhibition Hall. It is in 
the famous street Unter den Linden. They charge a mark (25 cents) 
for admission. 

The artists who exhibit there are mostly the newer ones. It 
seemed to me that the average was not better than in Boston. Some 
of the busts were especially good — particularly one of Nansen, the 
man who is trying to reach the North Pole. 

Berlin, May 10, 1896. 
I have been twice to the Art Exhibition. It is awfully large. One 
gets tired of seeing so many pictures and walking so far. Germany 
has, of course, the most space, and particularly Berlin. It has four 
or five large rooms all to itself. I like the Berlin pictures very well, 
too. Then Dtisseldorf has several rooms. Dresden has a room, also 
Weimar; and particularly Munich is worth seeing. Those are about 
the only German schools. But there are pictures from every country 
in Europe and quite a large exhibition from the United States. This 
has been very much praised. 

Berlin, Wednesday P. M., May 27, 1896. 
I am taking swimming lessons! It is good exercise. I want to go 
in swimming every morning before breakfast. 

May 31, 1896. 
I went yesterday to the Spring Review of the troops on the Tempel- 
hofer Field. I told you about going to see the Autumn Review last 
September. I had to get up about six o'clock, and get to the field by 



290 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

eight o'clock in the morning for after that hour the streets leading to 
the Field were closed by the police. As it was, it was difficult to get 
through. 

Long lines of Infantry, and Cavalry and Artillery trains were 
filling the streets. Still I got there. At nine the Emperor and 
Empress galloped in. The Empress had her own regiment. 

After a while the troops were so far out in the field that they looked 
like tulip beds. 

The Emperor seemed well pleased when he got back. He shook 
hands with the leading officers. 

Berlin, July 5, 1896. 

Yesterday was my Fourth of July in Berlin. Like Thanksgiving, 
Christmas, New Year and Easter it made me feel rather blue. It was 
a raining Fourth ! It poured and poured — repeat that as often as you 
like. It was at it again today. 

Not a firecracker, or a tin horn — and no bells ringing. Quite a 
number of flags, though, especially on the building where the consul- 
general has his office. 

Such a dead lot of Americans — the only thing for the day was a 
reception at the ambassador's. I told you about General Rumyon 
who died. The new man is named Uhl. I thought at first that I 
would not go but I finally thought I would. So I called for my 
doctor acquaintance — and we went together. 

The ambassador is a western lawyer, tall and rather imposing 
looking. 

The flat is very nice, on the nicest street. The rooms were well 
filled with nice appearing people and I found quite a large number 
that I knew. I met one man whom I knew at Johns Hopkins in Balti- 
more, eight years ago. His name is Prof. Blackmar. He belongs to a 
university in Kansas. He came over to the pension today and took 
dinner with me. 

Berlin, July 12, 1896. 

After I leave Leipsic I must do some travelling. I will go to Paris 
anyhow and then I presume southward toward Italy, and visit some 
of the North Italian cities. I spent all the afternoon yesterday trying 
to arrange for my trip home. 

The Earl's son passed through Berlin yesterday. I wasn't here 
when he called and he left his card, giving his London and country 
address. He waited a long time. 

Hotel De Prusse, Leipsic, 
Wednesday, July 22, 1896. 
It is a week since I came down to this city. Did you know that 
this was the city where Napoleon met his great first defeat.'' It was 
1812 and the armies of nearly all the nations of Europe hemmed him 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 291 

in here. He was defeated in the battle (there were many, all around 
the city) but he managed to get away, and get back to France again. 

They say here that it was in the old hotel that stood on this spot 
that he made his headquarters. 

I must see Paris before I go back. 

Munich, Bavaria, 
July 26, 1896. 

I left Leipsic Friday morning (early, got up at 5 o'clock) and reached 
Nuremburg a little after 4 P. M. I couldn't resist the temptation to 
stay over night in Nuremburg. It is now just about as it has been 
for centuries. There is a deep moat around the city. There is a 
high wall inside that, running all around. 

Then the oddest gable end kind of old weather stained houses, 
winding streets, running up hill and down. There is a hill on one 
end of the city and on top of that hill, and covering it, is an old 
castle, with towers, high walls, and a moat down below. This castle 
centuries ago was the home of the Hohenzollern family. The German 
Emperor William II, you know, is a descendant of this family. 

Paris, France, August 2, 1896. 

You see I am here. I thought I couldn't leave Europe without 
getting a peek at Paris. 

I left Munich Thursday morning at 7 : 13 (got up at 5 : 45) and came 

over by way of Ulm, Stuttgart, Augsburg, Karlsruhe, Strasburg, 

Nancy. 

I've been through the Champs Elysees, the Tuileries; have seen 
Notre Dame, the Madeleine, the Arch of Triumph, and yesterday 
went through the ancient sculpture room in the Louvre. Just think 
of it ! I always wanted to go there. Thousands of statues there but 
the statue of the Fighting Gladiator, the Venus of Milo and the bust of 
Caesar pleased me by far the best ! 

Venice, August 11, 1896. 

Arrived here this A. M., after two days steady travelling. Have 
spent the day seeing churches, etc. Am just about to take the train 
for Genoa where I expect to be on the stroke of twelve tomorrow and 
to sail on the "Elms" the next day. 

St. Mark's and the Doge's Palace are fine. 

Dresden. 
This morning I visited the New and Old Pinacothek — Picture 
Galleries. The Old is especially good. It has one of the best collec- 
tions of Rubens' pictures in Europe. The "Ascension of the Virgin," 
by Guido Reni, is one of the best pictures I have ever seen. 



292 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Berlin, August 25, 1896. 

I must tell you about a little trip I made last Friday. I went to 
that part of Potsdam that is called Sans Souci. It is an enormous 
park in which there are long walks, fountains, orchards, and here and 
there a palace. 

It is the place where the German Emperor William II stops or 
lives rather when he is in the vicinity in summer. (In winter he stops 
at an enormous castle, 700 rooms in it, here in the city.) This Sans 
Souci was the favorite spot of Frederick the Great who built two 
palaces in it: the first called "Castle Sans Souci," and the other 
"The New Palace" (where the present Emperor lives), I walked to 
the first, through long avenues of trees so close together that they 
scarcely let in the sun. It was quite cool there. At last I came to a 
great fountain; outside were groups of statuary, and, between the 
groups, semicircular marble settees. I sat there for some time; and 
then started for "Castle Sans Souci" which was on an eminence above 
me, the approach being over six terraces, one above the other, ar- 
ranged semicircular, something like this! (He made a sketch of the 
terraces and indicated where the flower beds were.) 

At the top I found a soldier, striding up and down with his gun on 
his shoulder. I asked him if I might go in. He said "yes," and 
pointed out the way. I found on the other side a party ready to go 
through with a guide. I went too. The rooms were not very large 
(this castle is only one story high, but it covers a large area) but they 
are marvels of stone work, marble, paintings, frescoes, and inlaid 
furniture. 

There was the desk at which Frederick the Great used to work, and 
close by was the table, on which was a clock pointing to 2: 10, the hour 
of his death. 

When dying he sat at the window between his desk and table, 
looking down towards the fountain. He was poisoned, with his dog, 
by a French cook. 

In another room are all sorts of animal decorations on the walls, 
ceiling and even the chairs and baskets — mostly parrots, apes and 
monkeys. Frederick had these made for Voltaire the French philoso- 
pher, whom he had come from Paris to live there with him. But they 
quarrelled, and as Voltaire looked a little like a monkey Frederick 
had his room fitted up for him. There is a monkey at each end of the 
waste-basket, and you cannot avoid seeing a monkey whichever way 
you look. I was pretty tired by the time we got out. But I wanted 
to see the "New Palace" before going back to Berlin. It is a long 
distance. 

I arranged with a hack- man to drive me there; wait for me, and 
then drive me to the station. As we were going along we approached 
two or three huntsmen and a boy ten or twelve years old. The 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 293 

coachman turned toward me and said, under his breath, "The Emper- 
or's son!" After we got past I asked if I understood him correctly. 
"Yes," said he, "the crown-prince." 

We passed a long, low building which he said was a stable. At 
length we came to a gate where there were three soldiers. As the 
Emperor and Empress are just now away visitors are allowed to go 
through the grounds and into some of the rooms of the palace. One 
of the soldiers walked with me across the grounds toward the palace 
and, as we came to the palace gate, a carriage drove up in which were 
seated two boys. One was the crown-prince; and the other, his 
brother. I lifted my hat and the crown -prince lifted his! Another 
man was waiting to go in, and an attendant showed us through a 
large number of rooms. Some of them are simply magnificent — one 
in particular, called the "Muschel Zimmer" or "Shell Room," is an 
enormous room almost circular, perhaps fifty feet high, and the walls 
and pillars complete masses of shells and precious stones from all 
parts of the world. 

The following very brief extracts from letters which James Mahoney 
wrote home will give some idea of his travels in this country. I think 
I am right in saying that he had visited every place of importance in 
New England and most of the important places in the United 
States. It was his custom to go every summer, if possible, to some 
new place, preferably with literary or historical associations. This 
developed in the course of years into pilgrimages to the homes and 
birthplaces of leaders in thought and action, as Whittier, Elizabeth 
Stuart Phelps Ward, Longfellow, Emerson, Lowell, Sanborn, the 
Alcotts, Hawthorn, etc. 

Halifax, 
Sunday Evening, August 20, 1899. 

Got here this P. M. on the ship "La Grande Duchesse"of the Plant 
Line. Left Boston yesterday at 4 P. M. We are going on to Char- 
lotte town, P. E. I., and then back here again; then through Evange- 
line country; afterwards to St. John, New Brunswick; thence by 
International S. S. Line (stopping at Bar Harbor on the way) back to 
Boston, 

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, 

I woke up this morning in Prince Edward Island. The view from 
the boat is beautiful. We took a carriage and went to Da vies Hotel 
to breakfast. After breakfast we took a carriage and drove around to 
see the place. The place is very attractive. Our driver didn't join 
us in our enthusiasm about the beauty of the place; he said, "If you 
lived here you wouldn't think anything of it, and would want to get 
out," 

This is market day! All the farmers' teams are arranged in rows 
in front of a big market. 



294 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

I left off writing to you yesterday just as the boat was about to 
leave Charlottetown. I enjoyed the sail to Hawkesbury very much, 
stayed on deck nearly all the time. We are in Halifax again. We are 
going to stay here long enough to see the place before going through 
the Evangeline country. 

After breakfast we took a carriage and driver and went for a ride. 
This is an old fortified city. The soldiers were drilling and we drove 
over there first. They were drawn up in double file and looked 
more like fancy hitching posts than men. They wore red coats and 
white hats, bell shaped. There are a thousand in all but all did not 
drill this morning. Of course there was a military band. Lord 
Seymour, the governor general, and other men of prominence were 
there and took part in the exercises. Next we went to the citadel 
and went through a good part of it. There is a drawbridge and moat 
there. 

The name of our boat is "La Grande Duchesse" and the name 
of the little boat that pulled it out of the harbor is "Nellie." 

Fredericton, N. B., August 28, 1899. 

We have just arrived at Queen Hotel, Fredericton, N. B., after a 
most delightful sail up the St. John River. 

We are having a fine time. Yesterday we went through the 
Evangeline country and today we took a jump across the Bay of 
Fundy. Kate is getting to be a great sailor. 

The St. John is fine — the day was glorious. We are going to see a 
little of this town and catch the 5 o'clock train back to St. John, 
where we are to stay till Monday and then try to reach Bar Harbor. 

Kate got a stone from Evangeline's Church cellar. Also a branch 
from her willows, but the hotel maid took the branches away. To 
her they were only rubbish, although they were in a glass of water. 

We attended service at the Cathedral today. 

The sail up the St. John is considered as fine as on the Rhine or 
on the Hudson. We reached home last night at 11 o'clock. We 
were both very tired. I sat out all the time as I felt that I couldn't 
miss any of it. 

Eastport, Maine, Monday Noon. 

Just put in here. Thought to take train here for Bar Harbor, but 
it doesn't leave till tomorrow morning. So we go on to Portland by 
this boat, getting there about 5 tomorrow A. M., there the R. R. 
connections will probably be better. 

Hawthorne Inn, East Gloucester, Mass., 

July 22, 1900. 
I have come down here again, and surprised mother and Nell. 
Before coming here I went to Providence to see Dr. Milan. His 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 295 

brother-in-law and family were just going to Europe, so the Milans 
got up a little party for them. There were several prominent people 
of Providence there. 

I called also at Dr. Cooke's before leaving, but he was away. He 
heard that I had been there and came to meet me at the train. 

Appledore House, Isles of Shoals, 

Monday Eve, 1900. 

You see where we are — we reached here about 6:30 this evening. 
It is cool here. We had to wait about three hours at Portsmouth so 
we went on a trolley trip to Rye Beach. Mosquitoes ! ! ! 

Wednesday. 

I want to tell you that it was here that William Morris Hunt was 
drowned. He had a room in the Thaxter cottage. I went to the 
place where he was drowned. 

Mr. Choate (son of the American Ambassador to England) 
invited Kate and myself to go with him and Dr. Norton to York 
Beach. I was formerly acquainted with him. 

We went to Celia Thaxter's grave yesterday, and crossed the Island ; 
it is very narrow but long and is the largest of the nine islands that 
make the group. 

We are enjoying everything here and intend to stay for some time. 

The Hawthorne Inn, East Gloucester, Mass. 

August 2, 1909. 

I was in Boston till last Friday when the heat drove me out. 
Friday was the hottest day of the year — awful heat. I am going on 
to the Ocean View Hotel at Pigeon Cove. The Brewers live near 
and Mrs. Brewer puts herself out a good deal to entertain. 

I think of going next to Brockton to visit one of my classmates. Dr. 
Lyons, who has often asked me to visit him. I will most likely go 
from there to Newport to visit Fr. O'Neil. 

I am to dine with the Wards here tomorrow. 

Mt. Washington, August 25, 1892. 

I came up as far as Mt. Washington yesterday morning and stayed 
overnight on top. It was raining when I was going up ; but it cleared 
up a little later, and the view of the clouds was very fine. 

I went up on the tower, which is 6,344 feet above the sea. The 
view from Mt. Washington is very grand. 

I saw the electric machine used for the big search light. The ther- 
mometer was 46° in the middle of the afternoon. Last night they say 
there was snow up there. 

I will go on to Bethlehem today and will probably go on to Burling- 
ton tomorrow. 



296 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Chicago, August 21, ISI'93. 

I have done a hard day's work : To begin with I was somewhat tired 
— after riding a thousand miles — but I started over to the Fair grounds. 

I went first to the Eskimo Village. But that wasn't much of a 
show — some Eskimos, reindeer, Arab horses, a skin tent, etc. I then 
went to the Art Building. You have no idea of what a building it is, 
gallery after gallery till my legs ached. I kept at it for about four 
hours; and managed to see in a very hasty way only the Dutch and 
United States pictures. The French paintings are very fine. There 
are many there by the greatest French masters, as for example, by 
Corot, Carolus-Duran, Daubigny, Cazin, Bougeraux, Rousseau, 
Rosa Bonheur, Millet, etc. 

I liked the French much better than the American; perhaps, 
as I was fresher when looking at them. I saw the names of several 
Boston artists and some of their pictures. 

I shall start in again tomorrow. 

Newport, R. I., August 10, 1897. 
I finished with Prof. Brale Saturday noon. By the way, he used 
me splendidly and wouldn't take a cent. He is going to do work 
with me during the year at Harvard, too. As I finished my work I 
thought I must take a trip so came down here. I have also been to 
Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. 

Extracts from James Mahoney's common place-book, kept during 
the last ten years of his life: 

Sociology 
Tyranny 
The sufficient cause and necessary justification of tyranny consists 
in the crass selfishness (treachery and meanness) of man to man: i. e., 
tyranny is inversely proportional to brotherhood; and vice versa: 
T: I orB: I 
B' T* 

Must We Not Criticise? 
But we are presumed to have a conception of God; are we not 
allowed to have an opinion of a man whom people call great? "Oh, 
but the critics don't agree with you." Truly? Then, let us hold our 
peace. 

The relation between national characteristics and national history — 
i. e.y environment, in its true sense — is a worthy work for a series of 
historical philosophers. The variation in national character which 
would thus be illustrated and explained would afford a good basiis 
for international comity. Gifted races would hardly look upon 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 297 

themselves as "chosen peoples," but rather as fortunate ones. The 
Anglo-Saxon superstition would disappear. 

A man who has no great power of thought, and yet wishes to be of 
influence in affairs, seeks first to get the good will of people rather than 
to cultivate depth of thought; in fact, he considers deep thought a 
disadvantage to him. And it is too. 

Shrewdness and cunning are more than a substitute for profundity. 
These qualities enable him at will to assume the appearance of wisdom 
but relieve him of the embarrassing earnestness of real wisdom. 

The purpose of English instruction is to secure for the individual, 
according to his capacity, the benefits of language to the human race. 
This implies a constant growth of power (a) through the expression, 
oral and written, of the inner experiences, — emotional, mental and 
spiritual, — leading to an increasing knowledge and control of self; 
(b) through the expression, oral and written, of the outward expe- 
riences of life, leading to an increasing knowledge and control of the 
relations with man and nature; and (c) through an increasing capac- 
ity for knowledge of self, humanity and the world, by the co-ordinate 
study of the experiences of others as expressed in literature. 

Do your teachers observe and record the traits of pupils, such for 
example as originality, perseverance, tendencies to investigate for 
themselves? 

The Dress Suit Case Victim 

"I'm a Roman Catholic; pray for me," were the dying words of the 
young girl who was at once cut up and put into a dress suit case and 
thrown into the harbor. What more horrible warning to our Catholic 
mothers could possibly be given to keep their daughters in decent 
company and away from villainous wretches that swarm about 
theatres. 

The first step wrongly taken, and the Bishop hospital and the Har- 
bor follow. Mothers pray for your daughters and with them and 
keep them out of harm's way. 

A Fable {In Sociology) 

One morning three Sphere-bugs were taking the air in their favorite 
spots, and, being tuneful, their voices could be heard above those of 
the neighboring tree-frogs. 

"I believe only in curved lines," said the Surface-bug. "You are 
a fool," retorted the Radius-Bug. "My creed is straight lines." 
" Cease, vain creatures." cried the Centre-Bug. "Could you but enter 
this Holy of Holies, you would grow in the Word of the Sphere." 

Moral: Look above your nose. 

Note. — This very sarcastic and pleasing little thing came into the world early 
one morning as I was beginning to wake up. James Mahonet. 



298 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

The Journal and the Pocket-Book Graft 

Dear Journal: Don't get so excited about pocket-book graft. 
When we have stopped grafting in the stuff that goes into pocket- 
books, the pocket-books themselves will be only melancholy reminders 
of the past. 

Play Grounds 

There is such a thing as supervising children too much, especially 
when they go out to play. 

The Milk Supply 

By all means, gentlemen of the Health Board, let our milk supply 
be clean! We do not wish the milk inspector to stick his fingers or 
his mustache into the milk that we are to drink. Besides, we know 
that epidemics are spread by unclean inspectors or unclean milkmen. 

Watch out for the bill introduced by Senator Treadway providing 
safeguards for the production and transportation and sale of milk. 

Much more general attention is now given to public school educa- 
tion and to the public school teacher; promotions may be more easily 
obtained ; chances for self -improvement and for civic service are now 
more numerous. Yet real success in securing mental and moral 
development in pupils, is as difiicult of achievement now as it was 
twenty-eight years ago, perhaps more so, on account of the greater 
complexity of our present system. 

Politics and the Schools 

For twenty years the slogan of the school reformers in Boston has 
been, "Keep politics out of the schools." 

We are convinced that during the same period the wish of the 
politicial leaders has been the same as that of the reformers. 

What has been the result? The School Board has become the prey 
of the more petty type of politician. The little lawyer who sought 
clients; the little doctor who sought more patients; the little bigot 
who represented a spiteful faction ; the little grafter who saw a chance 
for personal gain, have all infested the school department. Of course, 
there have been honorable and able men and women — but they have 
been lonesome as a rule. 

The fact of it is, the selection of candidates, and the election of 
members for the School Board, are essentially political acts; in which 
the leaders of the political parties bear a responsibility which they 
cannot escape. They can fail to do their duty, and allow men to get 
on the School Board who are a disgrace to their party. If the big 
politicians do not act, the little politicians certainly will. It is a 
question of choice between municipal politics and petty ward politics. 
To put men upon the School Board who will work earnestly and solely 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 299 

for the children of the people is good politics, and tends to keep the 
responsible party in power. To appoint school committeemen of 
any other sort, weakens and disgraces the guilty party. The people 
of Boston are not indifferent to the welfare of their children. 

See to it, political leaders, that we have on the new committee of 
five, earnest, able, honorable, and broadminded men, who can afford 
sufficient time to study school conditions; are possessed of sufficient 
education to understand educational problems; have sufficient insight 
into the nature of children to wisely apply their knowledge, and are 
sufficiently far sighted to make some provision for future needs. 

If a man has not sufficient talent or education for this, he is unfit for 
the School Board. If he is merely famous and rich and honorable he 
is unfit for the School Board. If he is a great business man who 
cannot spare time for school affairs, he has no business on the School 
Board. If he lacks sympathy, insight, and love for the public schools, 
he is absolutely unfit for the place. 

In a city of 600,000 inhabitants it must be possible to find five 
persons both able and willing to serve on the new Board. 

The Shoe Manufacturer and the Panama Canal 

We, in the United States, are looking with much pride at the Great 
Canal. It is a big cut on the surface of the earth, and we made it! 
But are we not thinking rather of the glory of the achievement, than 
preparing to take advantage of it as a highway? What preparations 
are our boot and shoe manufacturers making to use this new opportu- 
nity to increase their output? The Canal means cheap freight and, 
for our eastern states, a new chance to increase trade, especially with 
the countries on the west coast of South America, with our own 
Pacific coast and with Asiatic ports; for our Pacific states, it means, of 
course, similar advantages in all Atlantic ports, American and Euro- 
pean. It is already time to anticipate, to survey the field, to make 
acquaintance, and to establish bases of operation. Word comes that 
our neighbors, the South Americans, both East and West, are more 
keenly alive to the situation than we are; and are making active 
preparations to meet it. May success crown their efforts! 

President Wilson's Mexican Policy 

In the House of Representatives, on Thursday, Congressman Gillett 
attacked the Mexican policy of President Wilson, on the ground that 
it will soon lead us to intervention in Mexican affairs. He says that 
the administration ought to have recognized Huerta, who, according 
to the congressman, was the only man strong enough to bring order 
out of the Mexican chaos. "Of course," he adds, "Huerta is a very 
bad man, but it is not the business of our government to examine into 
the lives of foreign rulers, but its first motive should be to consider 



300 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

the interest of our own government." We hold no brief for President 
Wilson, but we believe that his policy is animated by what he regards 
as the highest interest of the United States. 

It is far from certain that Huerta, even if recognized by our govern- 
ment, could have subdued the insurgents — in fact, it seems quite 
probable that he could not have done so. It would appear, at this 
distance, that Carranza has now a much better chance of establishing 
a general government and an orderly administration than Huerta 
ever had. It would seem that all northern Mexico must soon be in 
his hands, and that he can then descend upon the southern states 
with superior force. Meantime, Huerta is facing bankruptcy and 
dissension within his own ranks. But quite beyond these facts, we 
believe that President Wilson based his policy upon a higher view of 
our national duty toward other nations, and especially toward neigh- 
boring states. What this definite duty is in regard to Mexico he 
made very plain in his message to Congress, last August: to use the 
powerful moral influence of the United States, with a view solely to 
the good of the Mexican people; and to intervene only if absolutely 
necessary. He practically enunicated the lofty principles of American 
duty expressed by Webster in his Bunker Hill orations. How could 
a nation — whose mission in the world is to increase the influence of 
public opinion; to advance the rights of peoples and to promote 
constitutional government, — how could such a government recognize 
the bloodstained Huerta regime? But you answer that constitutional 
government in Mexico is an absurdity, that 90 per cent, of the popula- 
tion is illiterate and incapable of progress. That is an argument 
which no good American should employ. The remedy is a more 
thorough system of education, and a greater measure of civil liberty 
in Mexico; and there is a fair prospect that that may be attained 
from the constitutionalists whose struggle is against despotic govern- 
ment and for popular rights. It is stupid to assert that the Mexican 
racial stocks are incapable of progress. Mexican students, both of 
Spanish and of Indian extraction, have long been coming to our 
institutions of learning, and have distinguished themselves by their 
intelligence and industry. As for those of Spanish blood, it is not 
necessary to prove that they are capable of progress and of self-govern- 
ment. No states in the world are making more rapid progress than 
the South American whose population is very like that of Mexico. 

And deep were my musings in life's early blossom. 
Mid the twilight of mountain-groves wandering long; 

How thrilled my young veins, and how throbbed my full bosom. 
When o'er me descended the spirit of song. 

— William Cullen Bryant. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 301 

Eighty-Four Class Poem 

Almighty Soul, that fills the spring with growth. 
Doth teach the flower to bloom, the star its distant way; 
Renew our souls from out the fountains of Thine energy. 
And give us vision, clear through the dread maze of life. 
Give us to know the value in Creation's scale. 
Of standing yet again upon this college hill — 
Back from the world that barters human life; 
Back from the world that lies and steals and kills, 
And wallows in the mire of greed and lust — 
To think again upon our ardent youth. 
To think again upon our better selves. 
To think again of loved ones, seen no more. 
The while our years are rolling o'er the sky 
To rise into the Realm of Fellowship. 
Wherein no ruler is, but each a sovereign heart. 
Which yields not, save to force of gentle sympathy; 
Wherein 'tis sweetest object of our greed 
To know a brother's heart, and know it true; 
O Heart Divine, grant that we closer draw 
With deeper, finer insight, each for each. 
Till from our hearts united in a battery of love, 
There flow a mighty current, to transfuse, inspire, 
Until this ancient Amherst College hill 
Glow like a Mountain of the Living God. 
June 20, 1899. 

Class Poem 

The snow-clad pines are moaning on the lea; 
The world is frozen to its rocky core; 

A Babe is born beyond the Midland Sea, 

That love might grow within us more and more. 

The winds are howling o'er Manchurian plains. 
And Arthur's Port bursts with the fires of hell; 

While in our joyous hearts the Babe-king reigns. 
Our songs are ringing over hill and dell. 

A paean high, for '84 ! 
A paean strong and high! 
Crash down the towers of silence 
With a mighty midnight cry: 
Our class shall never die ! 
Go, ringing through the aether, 
Up to the Throne on High: 
Our class shall live forevermore! 
Our class shall never die! 



302 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

The wintry storms sweep down the sky; 

The wind is bitter cold : 
Within the ground our comrades lie; 

Their flesh is turned to mold. 

Yet through the binding, icy snow, 

That smites us in the face, 
We seem to see their sad eyes glow; 

Their features we can trace. 

But when we fain would clasp the form. 
The outstretched hand would seize, 

Then madly mocks the midnight storm, 
Our bones within us freeze. 

Forgive, O God of Silence, 

Our vain and foolish cry; 
Send down Thy mercy and Thy love, 

That our class may never die. 

The ages stride across our feast, 

Down to an empty tomb; 
Within the portals of the East 

Gigantic figures loom. 

Across the black abyss there swells 

A mystic, magic song; 
And as we sing our chorus 

The mighty tones prolong. 

" Beat high, beat high, ye merry hearts ! 
Beat high, ye hearts of gold! 
Sing high, sing high your merry songs. 
As in the days of old!" 

A paean high for '84! 
A paean strong and high! 
Our class shall live forevermore! 
Our class shall never die! 
Crash down the towers of silence 
With a mighty midnight cry: 
While warm love glows within our hearts, 
Our class shall live forevermore! 
Our class shall never die ! 
December 30, 1904. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 303 

The '84 Castle 

Our castle walls we've builded 

On Holyoke's High Hill. 
The stones were hewTi in Monson; 

Bill At. will pay the bill. 
Its turrets, domes, and pinnacles 

Go mounting to the sky. 
If Chick would take the mortgage off 

Our hopes would mount as high. 
Within the mountain's bowels 

Are wines and spirits rare. 
But Charley Smith witholds the keys; 

To touch them none may dare 
Unless perchance at midnight 

The friends upward soar 
And slyly turn the spigots 

And deep libations pour, 
While the mighty mountain rocks and reels 

With yells for '84. 
But their revels soon are ended. 

Their drinking bout is o'er, 
For the gallant F. Smith hoseman 

Floods of water on them pour. 
For the waters of the river 

Round about the mountain flow; 
The channel down below the base 

Was dug by Walter Low, 
See where the main tower fronts the East 

To greet the morning light; 
Its gracious length unfolding 

Floats the Purple and the White 
The castle's built in grandeur, 

Such as ne'er was seen before; 
There's nothing too magnificent 

For the Class of '84. 
The columns are of hammered gold, 

Jim Pat sent on the ore; 
The walls with gems are crusted 

From Billy Wheeler's store. 
There's nothing too magnificent 

For the Class of '84. 
The Council Chamber's lofty dome 

Views the sky through crystal glass. 
Round the walls in ordered dignity 

Are the banners of the Class. 



304 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

But the pride of all our castle 

Is the Library's noble hall; 
The forest, mine and ocean cave 

With their riches deck its wall. 
Just in the center of the floor 

Stands a case of burnished gold; 
Your eye will ope with wonder 

As its massive doors unfold. 
With wonder and amazement 

Upon its contents look 
Reclining on its jewelled bed 

Our Memorabilia Book. 
Then, as a secret spring you touch, 

With your hand you shade your eye. 
As memories of the bygone years 

With our Loving Cup arise. 
Then after meditation 

With new hope your eyes you raise, 
And upon our splendid portraits, 

Ranged about, with pleasure gaze. 
But as you look and marvel. 

Your look becomes a stare 
"Ah, Sir! I beg your pardon 

But did I hear you swear.'^" 
The pictures look and talk at you 

As you upon them look. 
They're run by a kineamatograph 

With Joe Tommy's photo hook. 
There in the center at the front 

Is a youth both tall and fair, 
A smile upon the youthful face 

Although his skull is bare. 
But though his face is smiling 

By his pensive brow you see 
That thoughts are surging through his brain; 

Perhaps he thinks of me. 
Perhaps he thinks of John and Will, 

Perhaps of Marguerite Fair, 
Perhaps he's building castles 

That are not in the air: 
Perhaps he thinks of Mrs. At., 

Or of coal mines in the West; 
Perhaps he thinks of stocks and things, 

Perhaps of Hampton West; 
"Perhaps," "perhaps," there's no "perhaps," 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 305 

Your guessing now give o'er, 
I'll tell you what he's thinking, 

He thinks of '84. 
Now he of all our mighty class 

Is the only Summa cum. 
Now ope your mouth and yell like — 

Blow horns and beat the drum. 
But who is that beside him.^* 

A man, not tall, nor fat. 
With a merry twinkle in his eye 

As he turns his face to At.? 
You, poet, do not know him? 

The merry gods forbid ! 
'Tis he, boys, 'tis our Arthur! 

He's our best, our only kid. 
Though you should live forever, 

And this universe explore. 
You'll never find a better friend 

Than this Kid of '84. 
Now every man a magnum. 

Filled full with love galore. 
And drink about and yell and shout. 

For this Kid of '84. 
The Kid's himself a magna. 

And besides, there are magnas four, 
All honor to these honor men. 

Of the Class of '84. 
And next — good Lord, 'tis Billy! 

Our scribe of '84 ! 
All up, my boys, fling wide your throats, 

And roar and roar and roar! 
Class reunion, 1911. 

Class Poem 

Delivered at the Twenty-Sixth Annual Reunion of the Class of Eighty- 
Four, Amherst, Held at Boston, December, 1909 

The burning sun of June beats down upon me 

As I lie within the grass ; the breeze comes 

Laden with a thousand odors of the vine, wild rose and clover; 

Above me points the finger of the College Church; 

And yonder, clad in blue, the everlasting range. 

The leaves all rustle on the trees, and the warm air 

Is vibrant with the songs of birds, and loudly 

Sings my heart unto my soul which loudly sings again : 

21 



306 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

The sun is bright, 

The sky is blue: 
My heart is warm, 

And glad and true. 

Yon solid mount 

Will ever last. 
The fire within 

Our soul burns fast. 

And the sun is fire, 
And the earth is mold ; 

My heart is lonely. 
Sad and cold. 

Yet fire is life, 

And in its glow. 
The heart of man 

And God I know. 

But even as I sang, my eyes did gaze 

Beyond the pointing spire; the blue dissolved, 

Like fairy mist, and opened to the infinite. 

Resplendent in its every varying, complex unity. 

Wherein the gleaming world of soul and spirit shines 

Through height and depth; and from the heights supreme 

Appear two mighty beings, who forge the 

Almighty's will in Height and Depth through all; 

The one, all light and motion, and through his 

Being surged the upbuilding energy of Almighty God; 

The other, dark and awful was; and ever would 

The dark one stay the hand of the all-glowing angel: 

And I heard the Upbuilder say : 

"Not yet, thou Scavenger of God, not yet!" 

"Recording angel, bring again the book of Life." 

Then, as a third, from out the Innermost came forth. 

The Upbuilder said : The Universe of time and space 

Doth glow and throb in its minutest part 

By the all-potent, new-Creating Force, and yet 

As I with the Almighty's Might and His Creating Fire, 

Struggle in agonizing world generating action 

'Gainst the death-dull cold of Everlasting Void: 

I climb, I mount, I build my spirit dome 

O'er everlasting arches of true hero souls. 

Yet were I not supported by the Omnipotent Hand 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 307 

I'd faint with fear that all Creation round 

Would vanish at a touch, and ne'er upbuild again, 

I strive with agony, and all God's Creatures 

Tremble as I strive lest they slip back. 

Unto that final death. In this ne'er ending strife 

I look for reflex succor from souls like mine 

Who were endowed with will and knowledge 

Of this eternal battle waged 'gainst the Almighty God. 

And even as he spoke I was aware of a huge dial. 

Bronze, with iron hands, fastened by bolts 

Upon Eternity's black wall; and as I gazed 

I heard the mighty hammer clang 

Full five and twenty strokes that echoed 

Back again through all Eternity : 

And from a dome above the dial, came 

A troop of black-robed maidens who together sang: 

Their years are onward speeding. 
Their hearts are all unheeding. 
The waves of time are rolling, 
The bells of fate are tolling. 
The guns of battle booming. 
The smoke of battle glooming 
O'er city, hill and sea. 

The maidens vanished and the Upbuilder spoke again : 

"And now a quadrant cycle has yon point 

Of light traced on that dial since a band 

Of such I placed on that old globe 

Of inert mud, that spins in drunken circles 

Round that unstable mass of burning gas 

By which I mark the lower verge 

Of the Creation's bound; these I formed 

Of thrice refined matter, from deep wombs 

Of noble mothers; and I placed them there 

To fight the battle on the lower verge : 

Tell me, Recording Angel, have any fallen 

Prone within that mud, and love the slime 

Instead of God, if any, say, and by 

The hand of this Destroying Angel, I will 

Smite him to the void." "Nay," replied 

The Recorder, "nay, for did any catch 

The toe in mud, the eye did turn 

Toward God." 

Again the Upbuilder asked: "Have 



308 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Any sold the precious fire within their 

Souls for that foul trash of earth? Keenly 

Look and answer, Angel of the Book." 

"O Architect of Souls," replied the Recorder, 

"Thou didst place them there to work in 

Slime and metals, and though some at times 

Have bent the eye to earth, the nobler 

Heart doth draw them back to God." 

"Look yet again, Bookkeeper," said the Angel, 

"Hath any pierced with bitter gibe 

A loyal Comrade's Soul; or traitor 

Proved to Comrade tried and true 

In that fierce battle of the lower verge? 

If any, say, and by this Scavenger of God 

I'll cast him on the Universal Dump." 

"Not yet, my Angel," spoke a voice from 

Out the Innermost; "turn back 

The Constellations in their course 

And all review again"; and while he spoke 

I hear the backward whir of suns and planets. 

And in a flash the ancient College stood 

Again as in our youth it stood; 

And up the hill came trooping merry lads 

With upturned faces, and with jest they 

Sang of love : the angel smiled as to us 

Came the words of one fair youth, so 

Tall and slender, as he jocund sang : 

My Sue, she is a daisy. 

To her I'll e'er be true : 
For she has a lip like a rosebud tip. 

And her eyes are painted blue. 

And into Chapel trooped they in a motley 

Group ; and up arose in majesty 

The royal form of Seelye and with sonorous voice 

He read the Sacred Writ; again, another 

Scene, and surely that is Socrates 

Or Tyler there who teaches Greek and speaks 

Of worth and high nobility! And look! 

In Walker Hall through the windows streamed 

The sunshine o'er eager faces, all with earnest 

Eyes as falls the sunshine on the master 

At his desk, of swarthy hue, and dark and 

Gleaming eye, his voice and mind 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 309 



And sentence, all, as crystal clear. 
As with charmed words he spoke of 
Mind and Soul; of matter and of God. 
And on and on the scenes like 
Lightning fled before me; and 
Past all College days, and then 
The rush and turmoil of this seething life: 
One moment shone the light, immovable, 
Above a fresh made grave : about it grew 
The briar and ivy and over it a stone, on 
Which I read: 

We'll love thee till our life depart, 

O Garman of our heart ! 

We'll love thee, while our hearts are kind, 

O Garman of our mind ! 

We'll love thee while the seasons roll, 

O Garman of our soul ! 

A sharp pain pierced my heart and 

With a start I did awake; and 

Stamping through the daisies and 

The clover came groups of classmates 

With wives and children fair. 

And loud they sang, and fast 

The children ran, and played 

Among the clover white and red : 

And merry were they all, but 

As they sang methought I saw 

A teardrop in the eye: 

Old Amherst fair we come to praise 
Thy beauty and thy might ! 

Our guides and friends of other days 
Are with us here tonight. 

We drink to them with all our heart, 

A bumper to the brim. 
Our love for them will ne'er depart, 

Their memories ne'er grow dim. 

Our Garman of the flashing eye, 
Our Seelye's front of Jove, 

Our Tyler's wrinkled face descry, 
With piety and love. 



310 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Our Harry Wilbur, Hastings, too, 

Our rosy Fiske and Hyde, 
And other comrades, tried and true, 

With us they'll e'er abide. 
They are not dead, they're here tonight, 

But on the other side. 

And as the battle we renew, 

For righteousness and right; 
Our guides and comrades, tried and true, 

Will fight for us with might. 

Come, pile the roses on the board. 

And raise the sacred wine: 
Our minds with memories are stored. 

Our hearts with love divine. 

Almighty God, we bow to Thee, 

With humble thanks and praise, 
Thou'st given us this day to see: 

Still lengthen out our days. 

To S. W. W.* 

Yet once again I entered through that door — ^so quickly open to the 

knock of all — 
The Gracious Lady is not there — her pictures, her books, her flowers, 

but not herself ! 
"Up to the Larger Hall" — and there in awful silence, like a queen, 

she lay. 
In awful silence, save for floweret bells, that tinkle music which the 

spirits hear; 
Her keen eyes gaze beyond the distant stars, her keen ears hearken 

for the voice of God. 
O, grant that at that gentle touch those Wondrous Portals of the 

Mighty Dome, 
Which crown the Structure of the Azure Heights, swing wide in wel- 
come to the newest guest. 
Who loved and wrought for Beauty, Truth and Goodness, here below. 
* Mrs, Sara W. Whitman. 



September 18, 1905. 
Quick from the Blue, a call to God ! 
His noble head now sinks in death. 
And lies where glows the goldenrod. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 311 

Dead! dead! Collins, dead! 
Flashing forth with lightning speed, 
Words of horror, words of dread. 

Bows the peasant in despair. 
In the dark-green distant isle; 
Murmurs deep a heartfelt prayer. 

By Columbia's eastern shore 
Cries of grief arise and swell 
Arise and swell for evermore. 

Mourn, mourn, O city, proud, 
Drape your streets in solemn black. 
Wrap your chieftain in his shroud. 

The bells are slowly tolling. 

The Chief's last call has come. 
Not on the engine rolling 

Through the startled city's hum; 
Down to the grave there calling 

John Eagan's clay today. 
On their knees in silence falling 

The people weep and pray. 



Who would not die in the fire, 

With his soul purged clear for his God, 
Than to live with his soul in the mire 

And to rot, without soul, in the sod? 



The Summons* 



Fresh, up, my folk! The blazing signals glow; 
Bright from the North breaks Freedom's light. 
Deep in the foeman's heart thy steel must go; 
Fresh, up, my folk! The blazing signals glow. 
The harvest's ripe, ye cutters, linger not! 
Our highest, holiest Good lies in the blade ! 
Press deep the spear within thy loyal heart : 
A road for Freedom make — wash clean the glade, 
Thy German soil; with life-blood part. 

It is no such strife as warriors royal crests, 
It is a crusade, 'tis a holy strife. 
Law, Virtue, Faith, and Conscience on it rests; 
* Note : I do not know whether this is an original poem or a translation. 



312 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Then from thy very breast the tyrant wrests. 
Recover them, and with them Freedom's Life. 
Thy grayhaired mother moans and cries: "Awake." 
Our cots in ruins stand and curse the robber-band; 
Thy daughter's shame cries out for vengeance sake; 
For blood, thy murdered sons struck down by secret hand. 

Heaven shields, and Hell must yield us ground 
"Up, valiant people, up," cries Freedom, "up." 
High beats thy heart, thy lofty oaks abound; 
Why fret thyself about thy corpses' mound? 
High plant aloft our freedom's standard up. 
There stand ye then my folk by fortune blessed. 
In thy ancestral, sacred Victory's glow, 
Forget the faithful fallen not; and rest 
An oak-wreath on our urns below. 

Break up the ploughshare, let the chisel fall. 
The lyre be still; the loom in silence stand. 
Depart from out thy court, from out thy hall; 
Before this face thy banners rise and fall; 
He wills his folk to see, an armed band. 
For him a mighty altar shalt thou build. 
Its top the morning glow of freedom gild. 
Thy sword its deep foundation-stone shall lay; 
His temples rise aloft on heroes' clay. 

Fire Worship 

The embers glow. 

The fires renew. 
My heart is warm 

And glad and true. 

The sun bursts forth, 

The daisies bloom: 
The seeds of life 

Throb in the tomb. 

The lark sings high 
Within the blue; 
My heart is warm 
And glad and true. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 313 

Where Do We Stand in Philosophy? — Where Does Dr. Hickok 

Stand? 

In order to determine our position we must dejBne the limits of the 
sphere within which the position is to be determined, i. e., we must 
define Philosophy; and also we must assume that we know absolutely 
how far advance has been made in it; in other words, we must assume 
that we know what have been the great problems and also the direction 
philosophic thought must take. In this assumption we will, farther 
along, find ourself justified by the nature of the mind; and without 
it we could not decide what was progress or retrogression, and so we 
could not give even relative position but only historical connection 
of so-called philosophers, and I think we would have no abiding 
certainty for this. But with this premise we may endeavor to find 
what are the great questions and systems of the age, to find their 
position in the great chain of human thought, and so their relation to 
the systems of history. 

Great authorities agree essentially in defining philosophy as the 
"universal science" which must accordingly make and justify univer- 
sal classification. This it can do only by finding the central governing 
principle of all things. 

The direction of philosophic thought in history is toward the end 
indicated by the definition. We find ancient Philosophy striving to 
find the central principle of the multitudinous forms of nature, to 
which attention is first called. The search leads up to mind; then 
comes the question of "What is mind?" and, then, "How comprehend 
them both, what is the relation between them?" 

Plato and Aristotle tried to answer, but the dualism still was found 
and thought still sought the solution. For thought cannot rest till 
all dualisms, multiplicities and antagonisms are explained and com- 
prehended. Accordingly that system which has justly and compre- 
hensively classified by piercing into the world principle is worthy 
of the name Philosophy, and all that fail to do this must resign their 
title. 

Dr. Hickok's system claims to be a Philosophy. We will try to 
express it, and then by applying it to the great problems in the history 
of thought, and to the particular questions and systems of the age, 
we will attempt to find Dr. Hickok's absolute and relative position, 
and, thereby, also that of those with which we compare him. 

Unlike the child philosophers of Ionia Dr. Hickok finds it necessary 
to begin Philosophy with Psychology. For the mind is the source of 
both affirmation and denial, and when we have found its powers and 
method of acting we will be ready to enter Ontology, i. e., to examine 
the nature of that which it affirms to exist and also to determine the 
course which thought must take. As Dr. Hickok says in his Rational 
Psychology, " It may also be affirmed that the compass of all future 



314 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

knowledge is thus given. Unless new intellectual faculties are given 
us we must henceforth know within the same intellectual laws as now 
we know." Common experience retested by scientific mind shows 
that the intellectual process is sensation, consciousness, knowing, 
feeling, and willing; and that there are three intellectual faculties: 
(a) The Sense, whose work is defining, distinguishing and connecting 
the content-in-consciousness. (b) The Understanding, whose office 
is to (1) form laws on conceptions by factoring the product, of sensa- 
tion; to (2) shut these conceptions within one another by the syllogism, 
and to (3) represent in memory, (c) The Reason, an intuitive 
faculty which shows the infinite Space and Time that contain the 
Place and Period of the sense, gives the induction of cause and effect 
needful to guide the understanding in arranging the confused and 
ceaseless shower of impressions upon the sense into an orderly experi- 
ence — and it gives this causality not by noticing the antecedence and 
consequence of the mind's wishes and body's actions, as Geulincx 
and scientists say, but by a knowledge of nature of Force; it gives 
axioms of mathematics, the principles of physics and the cognitions 
of beauty and goodness. 

None of these can possibly be derived from the sense and so cannot 
be formulated by the understanding, and yet their validity as princi- 
ples of the mind cannot be questioned for a moment. The closest 
scientific investigation reveals thus what our faculties are. 

The validity of the examination rests upon self-consciousness — 
whose authority we must afl&rm even while we deny it. To have 
obtained these faculties and functions thus validly is of great service 
in answering our question. For since the mind is the instrument by 
which is made all affirmation, doubt and denial of existence, appearance 
and non-existence, the standing of philosophers and systems may be 
determined by the thoroughness of their knowledge of this instru- 
ment's functions and by the accuracy with which they use them in 
obtaining their respective products and the exactness with which 
they arrange these products. From the data of the two lower faculties, 
we affirm the two great series of natural facts, the physical and 
psychical and, at the same time, the Reason — which thus works in 
harmony with the lower faculties and from the occasion given by 
them — sees the necessity of supernatural facts. So to the great 
question of the Socratic's, "What is man?" Dr. Hickok replies in the 
line which they themselves suggested, " A self-conscious being endowed 
with the above-mentioned faculties." 

To the great question of the Pre-Socratic Philosophy, "What is 
nature.'^" — which must strictly, though not historically, follow the 
Socratic question — he replies, "It is given by the sense, as certain 
qualities or appearances which are arranged by the understanding 
rule orderly laws, and explained by the reason as expressions of sub- 
stantial space-filling." 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 315 

Force, of two kinds, mechanical and spontaneous, when pressed to 
the great question passed down by ancient to modern philosophy, 
"What is the relation of mind to matter, to nature?" he is able to 
reply, "That of subject to object which are thus mutually knowable," 
and this he can do without falling into the endless controversy of 
Mind vs. Matter and Subjective vs. Objective, by reaching the 
mediatorial ground of Reason which finds the solution in answering 
the deeper question, "What is God?" The Reason affirms that God 
must be Absolute Rationality and beyond Him and His products 
there can be nothing and so declares imperatively that the laws of 
thought are the laws of things, and it can do this : for as self-conscious 
human Reason emerges from the depths of Being, by its direct insight 
into its own valid objective existence and so into the nature and 
archetypes of objective being, it declares that "Nothing but reason 
and its products can exist, that rationality cannot come from irration- 
ality, that the source of all that is both nature and man is Absolute 
Rationality, which must thus be of self-existent, self-conscious, self- 
determining and so creative Rationality. 

Self-existent, for if it could cease to be, it would at some time cease 
to be rational; self-conscious, for if it were blind and undesigning it 
would be irrational; self-determining and personal, for if determined 
from without it would no longer be absolutely rational; and, if not 
personal, it would be mechanical or spontaneous and would need a 
rational ground in which to rest. So by Reason's insight into itself 
are explained the deeper facts of Psychology: The Ideas of Truth, 
Beauty and Goodness in their high unity even in God; the profound 
desire for worship, which of all things perhaps lies deepest in the 
human soul, is satisfied and we find the universe-embracing for- 
mula, "the laws of thought are the laws of being and the diSi- 
culties of Universal vs. Particular, Subjective vs. Objective, Mind vs. 
Matter are solved by the high principle of a personal, creative God. 
In the unity thus proposed to the demand of Science we find the 
Principles of the Eleatics and the Ideas of Plato, but without that 
rigidity which could not account for particulars; we find the Becoming 
of Heraclitus, the voos of Anaxagoras and the "pure Form working 
toward the Entelechy" of Aristotle, for the Deity is creative, but 
without the in-themselves-existing "homoio merceae" or "matter"; 
for there is no occasion for positing this irreconcilable duality which 
split the systems of Anaxagoras, Aristotle and Decartes, and which 
Malebranche and Geulincx had to overcome by a deus Machina, just 
as if the Spirit even could pass the gulf between itself and pure 
Matter. Rationality cannot come from Irrationality and so finds it 
absurd to posit an Unknowable as the central principle as did Spinoza 
and Spencer, or a blind "Will," like Schopenhauer, or an intelligent 
(?) Unconscious like von Hartmann, or in Fantasy like Forschammer 
or in Dissolution like Mainlander. 



316 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

He does not, like Hamilton, Mansel, Spencer and others, find the 
Absolute unthinkable on the ground that "to think is to condition" 
for the laws of thought are the laws of being; and so he is not compelled 
to creep to the Absolute under cover of Faith like Hamilton and 
Jacobi or by Feeling like Schleiermacher nor to believe in it by com- 
mand of Will like Kant while reason is found unreliable. For these 
men try to make the conditioned understanding do the work of the 
unconditioned Reason and confuse the products of the two. 

All those systems which try to doubt or to deny the existence of 
Reason, from the milder types of Positivism through the milder 
grades of Empiricism to the rankest Agnosticism, show that their 
very denial affirms the existence of Reason and, at the same time, 
they reveal their indiscriminate use of the faculties, the undeveloped 
state of their psychology and their incompetency to meet the demand 
of the universal science which calls for unity. The influence of Kant, 
on the one side, and Locke, on the other, largely controls these schools, 
which might almost be called the typical systems in England, Ger- 
many and France, and their influence in Scotland and America is 
very considerable. The leaders are such men as Spencer, Mill, 
Duhring, Loge, Littre, Dumont and Bain. 

They strive to prove that the absolute is unattainable, for to attain 
it is to condition it to bring it under our laws of thought which are 
as they are because we are made as we are by evolution or otherwise; 
they allow "facts" but make all knowledge relative. But all the 
while they assume that their deductions are valid; they divide up 
the universe, call this knowable and this unknowable, may Force and 
comprehend the world of mind and matter under associational and 
evolutionary development of mechanical laws, all this while they 
would derive all our knowledge from the sense and understanding, 
not noticing that this theory is according to itself a complex idea. 
Try as they will they cannot avoid making absolute statements and 
trusting their faculties, however much they confuse them in their 
operations. The light of Reason shines out as clearly as ever though 
it be called "indefinite consciousness" or a "complex idea." But 
while claiming the validity of the Reason's postulates and thus closing 
the door to Agnosticism, Dr. Hickok allows full weight to the products 
of the sense and understanding, claims that the reason is not a pro- 
phetic faculty but works only under the occasion given by the sense 
and understanding, and so must identify itself and its acts in one whole 
of Space and Time and so, unlike Hegel and possibly Renouvier, he 
is not open to the charge of making Reason a mere thought notion, 
and accordingly he escapes such subjective Idealism as Fichte's. 
Also by showing that through the sense we do not perceive things-in- 
themselves but only phenomena, he is able to show that there is no 
contradiction between the faculties and so overthrows universal 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 317 

Pyrrhonism, which the Scotch school with its tactual and direct 
perception theory, cannot do. The position of the characteristic 
schools of the age is found thus in their incomplete psychology, in 
their failure to properly answer the question, "What is man?" and so 
their failure to properly answer the questions which depend upon that. 
And Dr. Hickok, who has roundly developed his psychology both from 
the empirical and rational or rather d priore standpoints, may proceed 
into Ontology seeking more thoroughly to answer the question, 
"What is God.?" "What is relation of man to God?" "What is the 
relation of man to man?" This he has sought to do and by deepening 
his self-consciousness and being guided by Revelation, he finds God 
to be the Holy Trinity having its counterpart in man the Image of 
God, in the legislative, judicial and executive self united in self- 
consciousness ; he finds man to be the highest work of God in that he 
is like unto Him and has a will independent of His will; and with 
this foundation in his Moral Science he finds the various relations 
and duties which ensue. 

It may be well to add that the Hegelians and Eclectics in America, 
England and Scotland are working in the same general direction with 
Dr. Hickok. 

James Mahoney. 

Dr. Hickok's Philosophy as Bearing on Agnosticism 

I wish to point out some difiiculties that I have found with state- 
ments of the writer : 

I. As to the relation between sense, understanding, reason and the 
essence or entity of the individual ego. "The mind can immediately 
know only its own states and acts," p. 92, col. 1. "The mind can be 
immediately conscious only of itself," p. 94, 2d col. "We possess 
another and higher faculty viz. reason," p. 92, 2d col. "An idea 
. . . is the insight reason has into its own capabilities," p. 94, 
1st col. 

Here an entity called "mind" seems to be assumed, which is self- 
conscious; but it is said to have a facility which is self-conscious 
or has insight into itself. Would it not be less confusing to say that 
an idea is the " insight the ego has into its own capabilities?" Or self- 
consciousness of the ego respecting its capabilities? 

If we make reason thus a type of self -consciousness what shall we 
call sense and understanding? Shall we call them greater or less 
degrees of self -consciousness than the reason? Perhaps we may get 
a hint from p . 9 1 , 1 st col . : " Sensation is wholly without consciousness 
but conditional for the mind to awake to activity." Can it be that 
it is conditional for consciousness in the same way that it is conditional 
for music that the diapason begin at a lower rate than 16 per second 
though as yet there is no music? Or are they three different kinds of 



318 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

consciousness belonging to three different elements of the mind, 
making the mind a compound? 

But essentially different elements could never unite into a unity 
of consciousness. Or would it be better to say that reason is 
self-consciousness of the nature, and sense and understanding self- 
consciousness of the specific capabilities of the mind? Thus making 
sensation the product of the action of the external upon the mind 
and the mind's reaction? But the postulates of reason as given in 
self-consciousness are not given as descriptive of the nature of self 
but are conclusions of the self-respecting the non-self. 

II. As to the relation of individual ego to divine Ego. 

"In knowing itself human reason affirms that its existence is not 
independent but derived." "Thus in knowing itself as finite it 
knows the Absolute," p. 95, 2d col. 

Hegel's statement (accepted by writers). 

"The notion of the infinite is not separable from the reality," 

"The mind can be conscious only of itself," p. 94, 2d col. 

There seems to be contradictions here. That which is human, 
finite dependent and derived and which can be conscious only of 
itself, is conscious of infinite time, space and of an infinite omniscient 
God, though the notion of these cannot be separated from the reality. 

It is somewhat difficult to see how any thing human and finite 
apprehension of itself could ever come to an understanding of the 
infinite, or if it did how it could knowingly trust its finite human 
reason (?) in dealing with infinite subjects. It seems to me when we 
give the watch such a "knowledge of itself as God may be supposed 
to have of it," we give it a little more than finite, human reason, 
unless we make finite human reason synonymous with infinite divine 
Reason. 

It is possible that a distinction between qualitative and quantitative 
knowledge can explain these apparent difficulties. I can hardly see 
how such a distinction is applicable. But in that the mind knows 
the nature of the infinite and presumes to say in many ways what 
God is and what he is not, may it not be that God endowed the parti- 
cle of being, the individual ego with something of his own omniscience 
also, as well as with some of his own being. For, since God could not 
create the essence of the ego from nothing, if this ego has any distinct 
identity. Will or self, must we not suppose some such vulgar theory 
as this that God tore this particle from his own bosom in which it had 
been conscious of the glory of the Entire and consciously swelling 
that glory in its degree, and now that it is separate remembers its for- 
mer abode and retains its own glory subject to its choice? But is it 
not absurd to suppose that God can thus "tear" Himself? Must we 
not grant Him at least as much as we do the atom that he is " indivis- 
ible and immutable." Looking at it from the other side, must not 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 319 

all force be one, and since "the existence of anything except minds 
and their product, is a . . . contradiction" (p. 94, 2d col.) is 
not all force mind force and since space and time, — which are the ways 
force acts — are one, does this not focus all minds into one essence, no 
matter how varied the expression may be? 

III. If we have noumenal knowledge of self in the manner claimed 
does this do anything else than establish relativity of knowledge? 

Page 90, 2d col. : "Hence we can be sure of nothing . . . till 
we know the laws of mind and their trustworthiness." Does this 
imply that at any time the mind does not know its laws and can be 
certain of nothing till it does know them? If this be so it would have 
to know its laws before it knew them in order to be certain that it 
did. And as to their trustworthiness what else can it do but trust 
them, and if at any time they, as he thinks, play him false in thinking 
them false he must still think them true since they give the thought. 
But that is just what he would have to do if they were complete 
liars. 

"Does the mind know itself?" 

"That the mind knows absolutely its own acts must be admitted," 
p. 95, 2d col. 

"The postulates of Reason are the insight . . . has into its 
own capabilities," p. 94 . . . mind knows itself absolutely 
. it not knew that it knows itself? If then it knows that 
it knows itself will any mind ask itself if it knows itself? Will any 
of the great minds of the world come to the conclusion that they do 
not know themselves? If we know ourselves absolutely is not 
empirical psychology useless since it seeks to show us what we 
already know? Is its office solely to classify the intuition? In any 
of our intuitions do we look directly into the marrow of our souls? 
Do we in any of our intuitions look directly into the essence of the 
egc? Or is the ego simply given as a postulate in the intuition, 
which directly deals with the nature of that which is not self, so 
that the ego, like Adonis at the brook, knows itself by reflection, 
by observations upon its acts? Would the mind if left absolutely 
alone ever know itself? So that "sensation" or "the effect 
produced on us by outer agencies" is conditional for the mind to 
awake to activity?" 

And so would we substitute the word acts for self in the above ques- 
tion? And now may we say "that the mind knows absolutely its 
own acts must be admitted?" But to say we have absolute knowledge 
of self is very different from saying we have absolute knowledge of a 
state or act which is but a particular relative condition of self. Phe- 
nomena are declared to be seen, thus postulating a perceiver, without 
further intuition into the perceiver's nature than that it perceives 
the phenomena. No being is viewed externally, but simple existence 



320 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

is postulated of an interior perceiver of the perception. All depends 
on the validity of the postulate. "To know that I dreamed last 
night is to possess in this one particular absolute noumenal knowl- 
edge," p. 94, 1st col. 

But to say that I dreamed is but to say that I was not completely 
self-conscious, or more fully, I was completely self-conscious that I 
was not completely self-conscious. If this is a fair interpretation 
shall we say, " Such must be the mind's knowledge of all phenomena?" 
How is it that a mind which acknowledges that last night it knew 
itself so incompletely that it took phantoms of its own creation as 
realities and so little conscious of its own identity that perhaps it 
identified itself with one of those phantoms, how can it declare it has 
absolute self -consciousness? And when we consider that by a blow 
on the head we may become "insane" and completely change our 
identity considering ourselves as So and So, and change thus through 
a series, shall we consider ourselves as a specific self-knowing identity 
or as an "illuminated" (?) relative condition of the UnknowTi. "To 
say that the mind cannot know its own states absolutely is a contradic- 
tion." We must d,ssume this but that is what we would assume last 
night when we identified ourselves with the phantom. 

If I were asked to answer my own difficulties I would say that all 
talk about an unknowable and perception and phenomena is "trash" 
except as it rests upon the fact of personality, and with personality 
erased phenomena unknowable and all are erased; and yet self-con- 
sciousness is an extremely variable quantity and its lower limit of non- 
existence is more easily approached then its upper limit of complete 
consciousness. If the mind knows itself only by its acts, and the act 
is elicited by the environment which is relative and particular, if 
confessedly only phenomena and not realities are apprehended 
externally and the self does not apprehend itself directly, but indirectly 
by resting on appearances, would not a different environment cause an 
entirely different self -apprehension? 

But to say there is a perception presumes a perceiver prior to the 
perception. But was that perceiver prior to the sensation a formless 
potential? Is the protozoon the first formative stage of the actual- 
izing of the potential? And are all other forms of life more and 
more complex stages of the same, assuming different forms according 
to environment? But to say there is a formless potential of personal- 
ity is virtually a contradiction, for a potential of personality is not 
formless. For personality implies a formating unit which is self, and 
a unified formulated experience which perhaps might be called uni- 
verse and God. Such would be my own partial answer to myself. 
And think it would lead me to deny the statement on p. 91, 1st col., 
"sensation is wholly without consciousness." I think it would cause 
me to admit that the moment the remotest nerve began to tingle that 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 321 

moment the unification of experience begins, and self begins to be 
revealed to self. 

James Mahoney. 

The Relativity of Knowledge 

Mr. Spencer thinks the relativity of our knowledge can be shown 
by an analysis of the product of thought or by an analysis of the 
process of thought. 

I. The Product of Thought. Mr. Spencer claims that the explana- 
tion of appearances consists in classification, and thus we get mathe- 
matical, chemical and physical truths. Now this process of classify- 
ing must be either infinite or finite. If infinite, the relative nature of 
our knowledge at once appears, since ultimate explanation could 
never be reached; if finite, it follows that the last explanation is 
inexplicable, for it would have to be classed to be understood. 

Dr. Hickok claims that we can explain more profoundly than this, 
that we have noumenal knowledge in self-evident truth and induction 
of force. 

I prefer Dr. Hickok's view, (a) because I think it would be impos- 
sible to recognize before cognizing, i. e., I think the first step in Mr. 
Spencer's classification would be impossible, (b) I think we have 
intuitions of force and principle which are as valid as that I think. 
(c) And without these I think classification would be impossible: 
for without the direct connection of effects with causes, the same 
object could not be identified with itself owing to paralax and ever- 
varying conditions of observance, so that the same object might belong 
to an infinite number of classes; and in this way to classify a multi- 
tude of objects would become quite confusing. 

II. By Process of Thought. The absolute or infinite cannot be 
known or thought since thought necessitates (a) relations between 
thinker and object, so that which is without relations cannot be known; 
(b) distinction between objects of knowledge, but the infinite cannot 
be distinguished from the finite for they have no common differential 
characteristics, so the infinite cannot be known; (c) likeness between 
objects of thought. But since there are no common integral char- 
acteristics between the finite and infinite, so the infinite cannot be 
known since it cannot be classed. If it be objected that this would 
prevent a first cognition Mr. Spencer says our experiences are gradu- 
ally arrsinged in groups (as if time made any difference). 

Dr. Hickok claims we have intuition of an absolute personal First 
Cause. I am inclined to the latter because (a) I think my idea of 
cause is as valid as any of my ideas ; (b) thinking the first cause does 
not limit the first cause in any way providing our laws of thought are 
its laws of being; (c) furthermore, Mr. Spencer's view doesn't really 
contradict Dr. Hickok's because his absolute is obtained (see F. P., 

22 



322 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

p, 74) by the abstraction of all predicates, even of existence, so that 
his absolute is absolutely nothing; (d) if the laws of thought are the 

laws of things then Mr. Spencer's arguments of Relation, Dis and 

Difference will disappear, for there will be relation without restricting; 
power to distinguish between the finite and infinite because of having 
cognitions of each, and no necessity for finding likeness between 
finite and infinite because each is known in itself. 

III. Mr. Spencer claims the relativity of our knowledge is demon- 
strable from the nature of life which he defines as the "continuous 
adjustment of internal relations to external relations," which he says 
includes intelligence as well as the lowest forms of life. That is to 
say, if you will grant that intelligence comes under a class of relations 
it easily and naturally follows that intelligence is relative in its nature. 
But it just as easily follows that if this is a statement of intelligence 
that it too is relative, i. e., it is not absolutely true; if it is not a state- 
ment of intelligence it does not matter so much. 

But in order that this definition of life be good for anything the 
existence of something "external" must be demonstrated. 

IV. Mr. Spencer attempts to prove the existence of an absolute 
external by showing : 

(a) In the assertion that all our knowledge is relative is involved 
the postulate that there exists a non-relative. Logically this non- 
relative is negative; psychologically it is indefinite consciousness; 
when we think of the relative there is a definite affection of the 
intellect; by the law of antinomies at the same time there is produced 
an indefinite affection of the intellect. 

(b) And since we can think antinomies only in connection, if we 
erase one from the intellect we erase the other also, e. g., if we erase 
the non-relative, the relative disappears too. 

(c) We get this indefinite consciousness, this cognition of the 
absolute, by "combining successive concepts deprived of their limits 
and conditions," and since this always perdures in our consciousness 
we have our unshaken belief in external existence. 

Dr. Hickok would hold that we can prove objective existence only 
as we can prove the laws of thought are the laws of things and that, 
by proving a common creator of things and thinkers, and resting this 
proof too on the proof of the trustworthiness of the mind. I agree 
with the later view, at least to the extent of not accepting Mr. Spen- 
cer's proof of objective existence. 

A. In general, because his indefinite consciousness upon which his 
whole argument rests has not a whit more validity for proving objec- 
tive existence than definite consciousness (and it might receive less 
credence as a witness since it lacks limits and conditions) and definite 
consciousness is avowedly phenomenal. 

B. And because, in particular (a) a postulate is no proof, (b) the 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 323 

antinomy of something is nothing, but this does not prove the objec- 
tive existence of nothing, i. e., by antinomies objective existence 
cannot be proved; (c) if the mind could keep all its cognitions vividly 
within it in all their limits and conditions, it would never, according 
to Spencer's view, suspect objective existence, i. e., belief in objective 
existence is but a weakness; or, at the most, the result of a deceitful 
habit of the mind of separating in thought what cannot be separated 
in reality, or, what is the same thing, reality is but a fabric of the 
mind. 

Our Educational Balance Sheet 

Business dominates this great country of ours, and every line of 
activity must present a favorable balance sheet if it is to receive con- 
tinued support. All corporations of a business nature have been 
receiving the fiercest scrutiny; and now the searchlight is beginning 
to turn upon the schools, and our system of education, while not 
primarily established for pecuniary gain, must present an honest 
balance sheet and it must eventually justify itself even on the basis 
of finance. For if the financial statement of cost of education and 
gain from education do not balance, our entire educational system 
must certainly be overthrown — and with it must go down whatever 
superstructure we are building on present foundations. 

Let us first take up the cost of our common school system: The 
value of the school plant, i, e., land, buildings and equipment, in the 
United States is estimated at $1,250,000,000. 

Allowance for interest and depreciation $2.5,000,000 

Yearly supphes 100,000,000 

Teachers' salaries 600,000,000 

So that our yearly bill of expense for education exceeds $800,000,000. 
Now, in our national husbandry let us see what this sum of money 
means : 

The wheat crop for 1912 was worth only about $700,000,000. Total 
farm products for the United States (1910) about 8| billions, so that 
the yearly cost of education exceeded the wheat crop of 1912 by about 
$100,000,000, and equals about 10 per cent of value of all farm prod- 
ucts of the United States for 1910. 

The net earnings of all the banking institutions of the United 
States (by that I mean all the savings banks, trust companies, state 
banks and national banks of the entire country) were $903,000,000; 
so that these net earnings exceeded our annual school bill by only 
about 12 per cent. 

The receipts of the United States government for 1910 were $723,- 
000,000, so our yearly school bill is about $100,000,000 in excess of 
those receipts. 

To widen our perspective in this matter, let us make another set of 



324 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

comparisons: It takes on an average eight years to put one set of 
pupils through the eight elementary grades, so that one set plus their 
seven immediate partially trained successors will cost the country 
about 7 billions of dollars. 

Some comparisons will show what this amount signifies: The total 
resources of every kind of all the 26,000 banking institutions men- 
tioned above, i. e., all the savings banks, trust companies, state and 
national banks, are 25 billions, 700 millions, so that our school costs, 
for eight years, equal about 28 per cent of this tremendous total. 

If we add the value of the school plant to the cost of running the 
schools for eight years, it will equal the total value of the farm prod- 
ucts of the United States for 1910. 

It equals 40 per cent of the value of all the manufactured products 
of the United States; it equals 20 per cent of the total value of farms 
and farm property of the United States; it equals 7| per cent of the 
total wealth of the United States; it is twice the value of all the 
exports and imports of the United States for 1913. 

One does not need to be a materialist or a sensationalist to be 

startled by these facts. It must be clear to everyone that no nation 

can endure such a constant drain as this without a corresponding gain. 

Now let us consider what is the product and what is the value of 

the product: 

School records show that we have a total registration in our com- 
mon schools of approximately twenty millions of children, and per- 
haps a million and a half of these graduate from the elementary 
schools yearly; and, possibly, two millions take up some form of 
employment. Now I tell you nothing new when I say that neither 
their employers, nor observant critics consider their labor of much 
value, nor are thoughtful men allured by their prospects for the 
future. 

Where then is the gain to our people and to our nation ? I am not 
one of those who can see no gain from our present system. The mere 
fact of support by the citizens and attendance by pupils has great 
significance for the unity of our people and our government. The 
vast outlay augurs well for confidence in our future. And I do not 
believe that the sum total of the yearly wages of our graduates is an 
adequate financial statement of the nation's investment in those 
pupils. But all thinking men agree that our present system and 
methods need very great change in order that they may become 
adequate for our country's needs and justify the enormous financial 
burden. 

Perhaps my long years of teaching entitle me to hold an opinion as 
to where some of our defects lie, and to give a suggestion as to how 
improvement may be brought about. The thought and purpose that 
dominate any kind of human activity largely determine the value of 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 325 

that activity — and so I think it is in education. The conception that 
educators have of the nature of (a) young human beings; (b) why 
training should be given them, and (c) what kind of training that 
should be, are fundamental and must be considered when we con- 
sider changes in systems and methods. 

The watchwords that are shouted by leaders in any given period of 
educational history indicate fairly well the views of those leaders in 
regard to the fundamental questions; the watchwords of the last 
twenty -five years have been chronologically about as follows : "Man- 
ual Training"; "Standardization"; "Motivation"; "Industrial 
Education"; "Vocational Training"; "Vocational Guidance"; 
"Efficiency"; "Part-Time School" and "Continuation Schooling." 

All these watchwords represent a similar line of thought, and a 
similar criticism of classic and cultural training; namely, that it was 
not training our youth to help pay for their tuition, and to help bear 
the country's industrial, commercial and civic burdens. But while 
the watchword and the theory underlying it have been received with 
ardor, there has grown also a certain pessimism in regard to the 
qualitative value of our young people and some have burst out 
fiercely in a demand for "Eugenics." 

Below all this discussion I personally believe there lies a false 
philosophy of human nature and a faulty logic in regard to education. 
To state this more definitely, I believe that the agnosticism of thirty 
years ago still pervades our educational theory, and damages our 
educational practise. Education is a study of possibilities, of capac- 
ities, and our educational philosophy underrates the human being 
by putting him on the lower plane of animal biology; the result 
might be anticipated; our faith foreshadows our performance. I 
believe that this analysis of educational thought is of vital importance 
and I will follow it somewhat more definitely. To make clear my 
point of view I will offer you another watchword, namely, "Person- 
ality in Education." 

What is the human being, and what is its personality.'' What is 
its value set over against mine and forest, railroad, store and mill? 
And what should be its relation to mine and forest, railroad, store and 
mill? What its relation to the school appropriation? 

What is personality? "The boy and the girl," says the average 
educator of today, "is just a bundle of instincts and impulses." 
This statement, if you follow the reports of educational meetings, you 
will find repeated over and over again. I believe it is fairly indica- 
tive of much of the educational thought today and is founded on a 
false comparison of the human being with the lower animals. But 
what is the human personality? Can we tell what our own consists 
of, you or I? We know the organism, through which the personality 
works, and we know something of its power to affect the body, but 



326 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

the personality itself stands veiled in mystery behind the organs, 
unseen, unheard. The Catholic Church teaches that it is made in 
the image of God, being endowed with capacity for knowing good 
and evil,and with free will to choose between them; i. e., it is endowed 
to a degree with creative power. And even if one is not a Catholic, 
I do not see how he can escape the conclusion that the human soul 
proceeds from the creative center of the Universe. If we watch our 
own personal activities we find that we are endowed with powers of 
sensation, consciousness, knowing, feeling, and willing — and we find 
too, that in this order the functions of our soul invariably manifest 
themselves. We know, too, from observing ourselves and especially 
by observing others, that these functions can be developed to almost 
any extent. To develop these faculties so that the individual will be 
the greatest possible asset to society and the state is clearly the func- 
tion of education, and justifies the expenditure of resources of society 
and the state to the degree that those human faculties add to the 
power, stability and resources of society and the state — otherwise 
national suicide would be the result. 

How then can those faculties be developed to produce such a max- 
imum of power? If we can ascertain this, we can tell whether Indus- 
trial Education, Classical Education or any other proposed type is in 
itself useful or harmful. That these faculties of the American boy 
and girl are not adequately developed is admitted and is a universal 
complaint. Perhaps we can best make a beginning with the admitted 
defects or shortcomings of our present system: Lack of individual 
power, inability to do useful things, and utter lack of respect for 
authority, for father and mother, as well as for all other persons in 
authority. 

Hence results general dissatisfaction of employers. Add to that 
the prevalence of disorderly gangs of youths who infest the streets 
day and night. We are not surprised to learn that in Massachusetts 
alone it is estimated that there are forty thousand young people 
between the ages of fourteen and sixteen who have received the bene- 
fit of our school system who are no longer at school but who are not 
at work. Here is surely tremendous waste and loss. Is it necessary 
that it should be so? I firmly believe that it is not necessary, and if 
we insist on the normal development of the human faculties we can 
largely correct the defects in our industrial and civic life which exist 
today. But first of all we need the conviction that man is not merely 
a biological specimen — that there is a spark of divinity in every 
normal child, which may be fanned into extraordinary creative power. 
That I insist on as fundamental. No person with a mind and 
character that cannot grasp and apply and realize the meaning of 
that statement should poison the growing child by his presence. 
Nothing but stunted and perverted faculty can result — unless the 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 327 

child's native power is so great that he can himself correct his imper- 
fect training. 

But given the right viewpoint and the right vision, what definite 
specific things shall the teacher strive to produce? 

First, sensation— a\\ the senses trained in an orderly manner — • 
through cultivating direct power of attention; second, through the 
growing consciousness of the child developing into, third, knowledge, 
i. e., of itself and of the object of its attention, attracted, fourth, by 
the effect then produced on its feelings, and, finally, by the action of 
its, fifth, will power on this object of its senses and its understanding. 

Now all this cannot be properly and harmoniously accomplished 
unless the teacher is endowed with insight and sympathy and is 
given authority which the child is bound to respect. Without that 
you take away the king pin of your state and social life. 

Boots, Shoes, Hides and Leather as Conditional Contraband 

" Can we ship boots, shoes, hides, or leather, under present circum- 
stances, without danger of confiscation?" 

Just at present it is difficult to secure the means of transport for 
any kind of freight; but assuming that the situation will clear and 
that a supply of transport boats will be available, it is desirable to 
select the flag under which you make shipment with care and fore- 
thought : for the question whether the boat is neutral or not, and, if 
hostile, the circumstances of the nation to which the flag belongs and 
the general condition of the war will have a bearing on the safety of 
the cargo. 

But granting that suitable freight boats can be secured, what is the 
status of leather and footwear, in time of war, from the standpoint of 
international law? Let it be remembered from the outset that in 
such a war as is being waged today, any ship and any cargo is liab le 
to be seized and that an international prize court does not exist — 
except in the records of The Hague Peace Conference. Recollect, 
too, that ships and goods taken as prizes are subject in the first 
instance to the jurisdiction of the prize courts of the captor; and if 
the captor acts according to certain recognized rules and principles 
the owner of the captured goods can expect no aid from this home 
government. 

What then are the recognized rules and principles applicable to 
this inquiry? There are two general principles that are of a special 
importance : 

First: That subjects of neutral powers, for example, the United 
States, are presumed to retain and have the right to exercise all their 
commercial rights, including the right to sell and ship goods contra- 
band, or conditionally contraband, as well as any other kind — and 
that the right to sell and ship goods must be hampered as little as 
possible by the existence of war between two or more states; but 



328 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

Second : That states at war have a right to continue their warfare 
with as little interference as possible by the commercial activity of 
neutral subjects. In other words, a merchant of the United States 
has the right unhindered by the United States government to sell 
goods and to have them shipped on the high seas to belligerent 
nations, provided only that such goods are not contraband; and so 
too, a nation at war will exercise the right of search and will confiscate 
goods, if it deems them contraband. 

What then is contraband? Are boots, shoes and leather contra- 
band? 

The question what is or what is not contraband, outside of a few 
classes of goods such as weapons of war, ammunition and equipment, 
is in practical cases somewhat difficult to decide. In deciding it, it 
is necessary to take into account. 

(a) What the greater writers on international law say on the subject; 

(b) The regulations by treaty between the powers ; 

(c) Discussions in prize courts in regard to contraband ; and 

(d) Instructions issued to the naval forces by the particular nations 
concerned. 

It may be helpful to say that the disposition of Great Britain with 
its great navy has been to make a long list of contraband articles 
and to rigorously enforce its regulations regarding them, while the 
Continental powers have favored a shorter list and leniency in 
enforcement. 

The United States has occupied middle ground on this question. 

For the purposes of our present inquiry it is important to know 
that, according to the Convention of London, signed in 1909 by 
representatives of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, 
Japan, Russia, as well as by the representatives of the United States, 
Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, that raw hides are never contra- 
band, while boots and shoes suitable for military use, as well as 
harness and saddlery, being susceptible for use in war as well as in 
peace, are without notice, regarded as contraband of war, under the 
name of "conditional contraband." 

It is true, indeed, that the Convention of London has not been 
officially ratified by appropriate legislation on the part of the different 
states whose representatives signed the Convention, and yet in the 
present crisis that declaration must be regarded as something of a 
guide especially for citizens of the United States, for the policy 
expressed by that declaration has long been the policy maintained 
by the United States. And surely a merchant of the United States, 
if he can show injustice toward him on the part of foreign belligerents, 
can confidently look for protection to "Uncle Sam." 

Now what are the conditions which will cause a cargo of boots, 
shoes, or leather to be regarded as contraband? 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 329 

The view which is favored by international law writers and which 
the United States government would presumably insist on is this: 
It must be clearly shown (a) that the captured goods would be direct 
military use to the enemy; and (b) destined for him. 

For example, a cargo of shoes, men's sizes, destined to Schmidt 
Brothers, Munich, are liable to confiscation by an English or French 
warship, although carried in an American ship under the United 
States flag and bound for the neutral port of Genoa, Italy; while on 
the other hand, a cargo of "Bluchers" destined for an Italian house 
in Genoa, which regularly sells such supplies to the Italian govern- 
ment, might, indeed, be arbitrarily seized by a German or Austrian 
cruiser, but the United States government would, doubtless, exercise 
its power to protect the consignor of the boots— though a wise 
discretion, one would think, would caution the shipper of conditional 
contraband from selecting an Italian port at the present juncture. 

With regard to goods in general, including of course boots and 
shoes, and leaving out for the moment consideration of contraband 
aspects, it may be well to state that according to the Declaration of 
Paris, which has been generally approved by the nations, goods of 
an enemy in a neutral ship and neutral goods in a belligerent ship go 
free. So, our merchants and manufacturers, if they are willing to 
pay war rates of insurance on their cargoes, may freely continue to 
exercise their rights in regard to ocean traffic. 

Perhaps I ought to add in regard to contraband that if half the 
cargo, as ascertained by volume, weight, value, or tariff rates, is 
contraband, the entire cargo is liable to confiscation; and in case the 
owner of the contraband goods is also the owner of the ship, the ship 
is also liable to confiscation. 

James Mahoney. 

August 10, 1914. 

Business Versus Socialism and Anarchism 

James Mahoney wrote the following paper and read it on February 
23, 1913, before the Catholic Literary Union of Charlestown where 
he was a valued leader. It is marked, above others of his writings, 
by being almost the only work outside of the teacher's field, that he 
intended to publish. It has been re-read by Mr. Arthur A. Carey, 
an old friend with whom Mahoney had much in common, particularly 
in the study of what is now usually classed as "Industrial Unrest": 

The most stupid person cannot fail to realize that there is some- 
thing wrong with our present industrial system. In a thousand ways 
this fact is borne in upon us. Unions, lockouts, strikes and even riots 
are the burden of our daily press. Yesterday morning's paper de- 
clares that, Friday, the fourteen men arrested during the riots in con- 
nection with the picketing by strikers in East Boston were ar- 



330 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

raigned in court, their heads bandaged and their faces cut and 
bruised. The International Executive Board of the Ladies' Garment 
Workers' Union held a special meeting in New York last night " to 
consider," Union men said, "ways and means of conducting a strike of 
the 10,000 workers on ladies' garments in this city." The Union's 
committee is paying out strike benefits to the members who are in the 
most need of assistance, but President Zorn of the Union again de- 
clared that the police were mainly responsible for the rioting 
Wednesday and Thursday at East Boston. The papers this morn- 
ing report the planting of a bomb, and an attempt to blow up a 
strike-breaker's house in Everett. 

We still remember with vividness the events of the Elevated strike 
of last summer, with its suffering, its disorder and its public incon- 
venience. We have by no means forgotten the terrible struggles, 
the rioting and fierce passions of the Lawrence strike of a few months 
ago. 

And these are only a few of the facts that indicate that something 
like a state of warfare exists in the industrial world. 

Even if we were as foolish as the ostrich, which hides its head in 
the sand, we couldn't escape the necessity of endeavoring to find out 
the causes of these disorders, and who the contending parties are. 

In the instances cited, we have organized capital on the one side, 
we have organized labor on the other, a dispute and then a quarrel, 
and a condition of affairs very much like that of armies on the field of 
battle. If we desire industrial peace, we must study the parties 
concerned and endeavor to learn the causes of their warfare; and a 
very little reading will show us that similar conditions prevail through- 
out the world, and that a wide conflict is on between Labor and 
Capital. 

The first fact that arrests our attention is that there are three 
revolutionary societies who are trying — however erroneously as to 
method — to better the ills of society. These are, first. International 
Socialists; secondly, the Industrial Workers of the World; and, 
thirdly. Anarchists. 

Inasmuch as the International Socialists and the Industrial Workers 
of the World have common aims, though differing in method, we can 
group those two parties under the head of Socialism. It thus be- 
comes our duty to explain : 

A. (1) What Socialism is. 

(2) What remedy it offers for present ills; and 

(3) What would be the probable effect of the application of 

the Socialistic remedies. 

B. (1) What Anarchism is. 

(2) What its principles are; and 

(3) What would be the effect of their practical application to 

the industrial world. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 331 

C. It will then be our problem to analyze the nature of business 
and capital, and their relation to civilization. 

D. Through what grades of development mankind passed to 
attain to civilization, and what benefits it has realized by this 
process. 

E. What the real defects of our present system are; and 

F. Whether those defects can be practically remedied without 
overturning our present industrial civilization, — and if so, 
what the definite means are in the line of upward progress. 

A. International Socialism is not a matter of very recent growth. 
It was my privilege in 1895 to be a student in the University of Berlin, 
Germany, and while there — as a young man with wondering, wide- 
open eyes — I marvelled at the achievements of the great German 
nation, its wonderful educational institutions, and especially its un- 
conquerable army. The huge, blue-coated Prussian soldiers filled the 
streets everywhere; and I wondered frequently how it happened that 
the German dared to think without imperial permission. I well 
remember that, on a certain occasion, the able and aggressive Emperor 
had called the officers of his army into the White Hall of his great 
palace, and — speaking of the Socialists, who in Germany bear the 
name of Social Democrats — had addressed them in the following 
terms: "As long as I wear the Emperor's coat, I will never yield 
to these men; and I call upon you to follow me into a conflict which 
will drive from our kingdom this miserable rabble, the pest of the 
human race." 

But the Social Democrats were not driven from Germany. They 
have steadily increased in numbers and it was only a few months 
later that, at a session of the German Parliament, I was impressed, 
during a warm discussion of imperial measures, with the appearance of 
August Bebel, who arose, and with words keen as a razor's edge, 
joined in the debate and hurled defiance at the ministers of the 
Emperor. 

The Socialist party numbers many leaders and writers, but among 
them all, August Bebel is today the international chief, and August 
Bebel is the disciple of Karl Marx, whose writings form the scriptures 
of Socialism. 

Let us try to express briefly the teaching of these arch-leaders of 
the international movement. The fundamental work for all Socialists 
is Karl Marx's "Capital," and its restatement in practical form is 
entitled, "The Wife and Socialism," by August Bebel. In " Capital " 
Karl Marx analyzes what he calls capitalistic production. He 
endeavors to show that commodities have commercial value to the 
extent that labor has been employed in their production, that the 
modern capitalistic system arose about the beginning of the eight- 
eenth century because of the invention of the steam engine and high- 



332 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

powered instruments of production, that a few men having gained 
control of these instruments of production, practically reduced 
laborers to the condition of serfs, forcing them down to the barest 
necessities of life, while accumulating vast fortunes for themselves. 
Marx's philosophy was based on materialism and atheism, and the 
movement which he started bears a purely materialistic stamp. He 
was the founder of the so-called "International," which would unite 
all the workers of the world to overthrow their Capitalistic masters. 
The great leader, Bebel, in his work, "The Wife and Socialism," 
has restated the doctrines of his master and emphasized them anew. 
We cannot make too clear the statement of these doctrines. 

(1) In the twenty-third chapter of the above-named work, August 
Bebel says, "With the doing away of private property and of class 
opposition, the state gradually disappears. . . . With the state 
will disappear its representatives, ministers, parliaments, standing 
army, police, courts, attorneys, prison officials, tax administration, — 
in one word, the whole political business." 

(2) "As with the state, so it will happen to religion. . . . 
Without attack by force, and without repression of opinion . . . 
religious organizations, and with them, the churches, will gradually 
disappear. Religion is the transcendent representation of a former 
condition of society. In proportion as human development progresses 
society changes, religion changes. It is, as Marx says, a striving for 
an imaginary good fortune of the people and develops from a condi- 
tion of society which is in need of illusion, but disappears as soon as 
a realization of actual good fortune and the possibility of its attain- 
ment comes into the mind of the people. 

"Morality exists also without religion. Only cranks or hypocrites 
maintain the opposite." 

(3) Speaking of woman, Bebel says: "In her choice of affection 
she is like man, free and unhindered. She frees or permits herself 
to be free, and forms a relationship without any other regard than 
that of her own inclination. This relationship is a private contract 
without the intervention of a functionary, such as marriage was till 
the Middle Ages." This expresses Bebel's fundamental thought in 
regard to the marriage relationship. 

It is very true, indeed, that men like James F. Carey declare that, 
with Socialists, religion is a matter for private opinion, that there is 
no doctrine taught by Socialists in regard to family relationship, but 
Carey and others like him cannot speak for Socialism. Bebel, Marx 
and Kautsky are the men who have created the movement, and their 
thought and character is impressed upon it. Let me repeat, then: 
International Socialism stands, first of all, for the ownership by what 
they call the co-operative commonwealth of all the means of capital- 
istic production and distribution of products; secondly, for atheism 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 333 

and a material conception of society and the universe; and thirdly, 
for the abolition of the marriage law. 

We may well inquire whether Socialists are sufficiently numerous 
and well-organized to give any warrant that they could have sufficient 
power to put into practice the doctrines which they preach. In the 
United States in the recent Presidential election, the Socialists cast 
nearly 1,000,000 votes, and this represents only a fraction of their 
real strength. In 1888, in the United States, they cast but 2,000 
votes. It is true that there is but one Socialistic member in the 
United States Congress, but throughout the Union they hold many 
representative positions in city and state. 

In Great Britain in 1910 the Socialist vote was 370,000 and they 
elected 42 members to the English Parliament, In Belgium, the 
vote was 483,000, with 35 Socialist members in the governmental 
chamber. 

In Finland the vote in 1911 was 321,000 and they had 87 deputies 
in the Finnish Parliament. 

In Austria in 1907 the Socialists cast more than 1,000,000 votes 
and elected 88 members to the imperial parliament. 

In France in 1910 they cast 1,106,000 votes and elected 76 deputies. 

In Italy in 1909, the Socialist vote was 338,000 and they elected 42 
delegates to the Parliament. 

In Germany nearly 4,000,000 votes were cast at the last election, 
and they have 110 members in the German Parliament. 

So that in the industrial countries at the present time Socialists 
number about 10,000,000 voters and elect more than 500 members 
to the various parliaments. 

The newspapers, too, are an index of Socialistic strength. In 
England there are 12 Socialistic papers; in Belgium, 56; in France, 
70; in Italy, 92; and in Germany, 159. I have not been able to 
ascertain exactly the number of Socialistic papers in the United States, 
but their number is considerable and their circulation and influence, 
formidable. 

It is thus seen that the Socialists are very practical people, they 
have gone into politics in a most efficient way, with the thought of 
gaining control of the machinery of government in order that they 
may overturn it and put into operation what they call the "Co-opera- 
tive Commonwealth." 

Let me make a brief statement regarding the Industrial Workers 
of the World. This organization has been in existence but a few 
years, but it has impressed itself on the industrial world by the 
determination of its leaders and the ferocity of its attacks. Its 
general principles are but a re-echoing of the doctrines of Marx and 
Bebel. A significant sentence in their "preamble," which heads 
every leaflet and pamphlet which they issue, indicates their position. 



334 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

The sentence is this: "The working class and the employing class 
have nothing in common. Between these two classes, a struggle 
must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take 
possession of the earth, the machinery of production, and abolish 
the wage system." 

That their other tenets are the same as those of Socialists may be 
judged from their general writings, and especially from their songs. 
They take a special pleasure in pouring ridicule upon religion, 

WTiile the Industrial Workers have plans that are very similar 
to those of Socialists, it is but fair to the Socialists to say that 
the methods of the Industrial Workers are very different from the 
methods of the Socialists. The Industrial Workers say that their 
methods are not intended to produce violence, but they admit 
that, under present conditions, they will of necessity lead to vio- 
lence, as we know was the case in Lawrence, and as came very near 
being the case on occasions in our Elevated strike. 

While speaking of Socialists, I desire to make one point very clear^ 
namely, that those who from time to time advocate government 
ownership of this industry or that, as, for example, the telegraph or 
the railroads, need not be Socialists at all. There is much popular 
confusion of thought with regard to this point, and the Socialists win 
many converts to their cause by pointing out the great advantage of 
government ownership of certain industries. A man may be a strong 
opponent of Socialism, and at the same time consistently advocate 
government ownership in many lines of industry, for even if the 
government were able to handle efficiently a majority of our great 
business undertakings, we would not necessarily be on the road 
toward Socialism; for, as I said above, the Socialist program does 
not begin operation until private capitalism in all the means of pro- 
duction and distribution is absolutely overthrown. 

B. Another revolutionary movement to remedy our present ills 
by overturning society is Anarchism. Anarchism is a doctrine which 
has its roots in the French Revolution; it grew and developed among 
the wretched victims of Russian despotism, where it took the name 
of Nihilism; its chief apostles have been Proudhom, Bakounine, 
Reclus and Kropotkin in Europe; and Benjamin R. Tucker in 
America. 

It is difficult to ascertain the numbers and influence of Anarchists. 
People at large realize their existence only when, during some crisis, 
they are startled by some terrible outrage or the assassination of 
some great ruler, committed by Anarchists; such, for example, as 
the bomb outrages in Haymarket Square in Chicago in 1886, the 
murder of President McKinley in 1901, or the murder of high officials 
in Spain, Italy or Russia. 

There are two schools of Anarchists, — the school of violence and 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 335 

the so-called philosophical school. They both seek the absolute 
destruction of government. The school of violence would accomplish 
it by means of dynamite or any other powerful agency at their com- 
mand. The philosophical school of Anarchists would educate people 
so as to do away with all need for government. The school of vio- 
lence seems to have no doctrine of reconstruction. Its whole force 
is bent upon destruction. Philosophical Anarchists claim that they 
would reorganize society on the basis of free co-operation among 
groups, smaller or larger, as the case may be. Both schools agree 
in maintaining that all poverty must cease, that God as the source of 
authority cannot exist, that morality and religion are but the fictions 
of those who would maintain authority and that the individual must 
be a law unto himself. 

I have to point out here that Socialism and Anarchism are natural 
opposites. International Socialism, which is the only form of conse- 
quence, maintains that all powers, all privileges, all authority, is 
centered in the Co-operative Commonwealth, with the right and duty 
to administer everything for the benefit of all. Anarchism would 
remove all central management, all authority, would make the 
individual free from all external restraints. 

C. He would be a poor physician or surgeon who would attempt to 
give remedies or to cut portions from the body of a patient without 
understanding human anatomy, physiology, the previous history of 
the patient in question, something of the family history, as well as 
the general effect of drugs or the result of particular operations, and 
in discussing remedies for the diseased condition of society and 
civilization, it is necessary to make a similar study so that there may 
be a prospect that our remedies and our operations may do good and 
not perhaps injure or kill the patient. It is necessary for our purpose 
in hand to analyze business in its relation to civilization, to clearly 
ascertain what business and civilization imply, by what processes 
they have been developed from past conditions, what in their nature 
causes industrial difficulties, and then 

D. Give the probable effect of the remedies, proposed 

(1) by Socialism, 

(2) by Anarchism, and 

E. then indicate what should be the remedies in the light of our 
knowledge of business, civilization and progress. 

What does business imply? In its external forms it implies farms, 
plantations, mines, quarries, machinery, factories, stores, warehouses, 
railroads, steamships, banks, stock exchanges, mail service, telegraph, 
telephone, wireless,^ — the whole world meshed together in an industrial 
network. But is that all.'^ No, there must be strong laborers, 
skilled artisans, powerful, resourceful captains of industry. And is 



336 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

that all? Most assuredly not. The workmen and their leaders are 
but the executive manifestation of the genius of humanity applied to 
the production and distribution of industrial products. Society, 
law, government, must be deeply studied in order to ascertain how 
the business and business captains of today have emerged from the 
different conditions of past ages. 

Now what are the requisites of actual business.'' 

(1) Stable government. You couldn't do much in the way of 
business in Mexico at the present time. Whatever interferes with 
the stability of government and the regular operation of business law, 
interferes to that extent with business prosperity. 

(2) Personal initiative. Without personal initiative, the guiding 
brain, and the strong individual interest that starts industrial opera- 
tions, follows them assiduously, with anxious personal care, to the 
final outcome, no business worthy of the name could even begin to 
be, to say nothing of being continued to success. 

(3) Surrounding conditions of civilization, lying deep in the nature 
and heart of man which foster thrift, initiative, regard for law and 
order, repression of self-indulgence, capacity for working with one's 
fellows, for whetting the human intellect to keenness in present activ- 
ity, and some degree of foresight for the future, — all are absolutely 
necessary for industrial life, and I believe any thinking man will 
agree with the great man whose birthday we celebrated yesterday, 
George Washington, that the fountain of all these virtues that lead 
to patriotism and industry, to morality and sound public life, is 
religion and a belief in an All Wise Father of the universe. 

Furthermore, a study of business implies a study of human wants, 
for all business implies activities tending to the satisfaction of human 
wants, and human wants lead us into a deep discussion of human 
nature in its present relationships, its appetites, its weaknesses and 
its antecedents, leading us into the domain of education, law and 
religion, — in a word, into the forms of civilization, so that we may 
understand the means of production and exchange as adapted to 
human needs. 

Now, with regard to our civilization of today, the thing that 
impresses us above all else is the wonderful way in which all parts of 
the world, and practically all human beings have been brought 
together into what might be called human unity. I need not dwell 
on the wonderful inventions that have helped to bring this about. 
We are forever speaking of them. But we do not equally realize and 
bear in mind, especially when discussing the hardships and evils of 
present conditions, that these things are of immeasurable benefit to 
the human race, and that all these inventions of which we boast are 
but the products of brain and genius acquired by antecedent develop- 
ment. The winds and waves of themselves never made an aeroplane, 
an automobile, or a wireless telegraph. 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 337 

Think for a moment how the whole world and all its inhabitants, 
black, brown and white, inhabiting all climes and in all degrees of 
cultivation and crudeness, of refinement or brutality, or skill or social 
helplessness, have been brought into touch through the organizing 
genius of the leaders of human kind. Progress has brought about 
thus conditions that tend, first, towards safety, second, toward 
enjoyment, and, thirdly, towards realizing the ideals of humanity. 
This solidarity of the human race is an acquisition first known in our 
own times. Nothing like it ever existed before. The human race 
ever tended up toward it, but now it has been measurably accom- 
plished, and accomplished for all time. And looking through the 
vistas of the future, we can see that along these lines future progress 
is to come. 

I call attention to these things because I want to make it very 
clear that civilization, even with all its defects, has great benefits 
and magnificent possibilities, that these benefits have come by regular 
progress of the race from past ages, and that an entire overturn of 
the present forms of civilized activity would jeopardize the benefits 
which we now enjoy. This thought will become clearer as we dis- 
cuss our second topic, viz., the stages of development that have led 
up to the present forms of human society. 

A study of the remains of human beings from prehistoric ages, 
coupled with a study of the barbarians and savages of the present 
day; a study of the ancient types, of the conditions and methods of 
mediaeval times, exhibit clearly that the civilization of today has been 
reached by the steady progress of mankind. Countless ages have 
been spent in the process, but such is the nature of human growth. 
From the kitchen middens and the cafes of the old world, from 
the prehistoric Swiss villages, as well as from the study of the savages 
in remote regions today, we realize the brutish conditions of unde- 
veloped human life. I do not here discuss the subject of the "fall of 
man." That belongs to the realm of theology and is in no wise 
inconsistent with the facts which I am here presenting. Crouching 
in caves and holes in the ground, full of terror and weak beyond all 
animals, primitive man begins to emerge into social life. Our 
Socialistic brethren, in lauding the good qualities of human nature 
unrelieved by religion, seem to forget that even today there are human 
beings who indulge in the practice of eating human flesh; that 
monsters of iniquity have lived in all ages of the world, long before 
capitalism was ever thought of, and it is difficult to believe that these 
brutish tendencies would disappear under the magic words of any 
theoretical system. Primitive man, exposed to the fury of the ele- 
ments and his own passions, seems to have been saved from destruc- 
tion by the dawning light of intelligence and the dawning belief in a 
superior power that ruled his life. 

23 



338 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

In ancient times, subject to the hard conditions of undeveloped 
life, subject to the dreadful tyranny of the few who mastered, man- 
kind as a whole had still but few benefits which distinguished them 
above the beasts. Civilization, indeed, develops in a few favored 
spots, in Greece and Rome, in Egypt and in western Asia, but the 
vast majority of mankind are sunk in want and suffering. The few 
individuals act as despots and tyrants; the hordes of mankind appear 
simply as masses and not as individuals. 

And yet, ancient times exhibit a distinct gain beyond prehistoric 
ages, because even a few real personalities are produced, and because 
they manifest a tendency, however slight, to raise the standard of 
life for a portion of the race. 

Mediaeval times are characterized by feudalism — a system of land- 
holding by which the great hordes of barbarians, who in ancient 
times had been without the pale of law and the light of education, 
are now brought into organization; which, however crude it may 
have been, however much inequality and tyranny it may have pro- 
duced, definitely and distinctly tended to the unification of the 
races and the transmission to them of some elementary knowledge 
of law and progress. Add to that the unspeakable value of the new 
doctrine of Christ, born at the close of the ancient period, whose life 
and teaching now begin to illumine the world, make it possible for 
the crude masses of humanity to gain some knowledge of the meaning 
of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. 

The invention of gunpowder, the use of cannon broke to pieces the 
foundations of feudal life; and then, later, the invention of the steam 
engine and other industrial machines have, indeed, as Karl Marx 
says, "helped mightily in bringing on our present capitalistic era." 

Before considering the evils of the capitalistic regime, let us again 
briefly summarize the inestimable benefits which the slow develop- 
ment of the race has hitherto produced. First, solidarity of the race, 
— ^physically, industrially, and, to a degree, intellectually. Christian- 
ity has added to that a conception of brotherhood, of self-sacrifice 
for public gain, the relief of suffering, because we are all brothers 
inasmuch as we are all children of God. This doctrine has not come 
from materialism, nor from atheism, but is the highest product of 
man's spiritual experience. Industrially, the world has been brought 
into actual productive co-operation. The adjustment, in many ways, 
is crude; the effect, in many ways, unjust; but actual industrial 
co-operation of the entire human race exists: and, furthermore, in 
that industrial co-operative productivity the individual counts for 
more than he has ever counted in the history of the world before. 
The great lever, of course, is education ; and, bad as our civilization 
may be, universal education is not only made possible, but, in most of 
the leading countries today, it is actually compulsory. The child of 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 339 

the poorest is placed in possession of the intellectual heritage of the 
race and given the key that unlocks the powers of all the world. 

While deploring "white slavery" and industrial tyranny, let us 
not forget that never before has the child of the poor man enjoyed so 
many opportunities for success as he does today. The outlook for 
the future is even brighter. See how many safeguards there are 
against every evil. Tyranny of all kinds, when brought into the 
light of the world's public opinion, begins to crumble. The greatest 
despot in the world fears the growing consciousness of his subjects. 
The mere statement of a grievance begins to bring about its over- 
throw. Show that a law is unjust today, and that law is doomed. 
Show that a man is a tyrant today, and that man will tremble for 
his life. 

While saying all this, I do not forget for a moment that we have, 
as I have said before, many and grievous evils. The question is, 
Must our civilization be destroyed in order to remedy them? as our 
friends, the Socialists and the Anarchists maintain, or can the 
means that have already produced the benefits that we enjoy be 
relied upon to remove our social diseases and carry the world to 
greater heights? 

Let us now consider whether the Socialist movement is helpful or 
dangerous in our present condition ; whether the idea of the Socialist 
is possible of attainment; and if so, whether it will bring about, as 
the Socialists claim, a paradise on earth. 

Perhaps we can best approach these questions by reading the 
indictment of our present capitalistic system as given in the Socialistic 
Campaign Book for the year 1912. It is a partial elaboration of the 
doctrine of Karl Marx and August Bebel. 

1. Wealth and power have been concentrated in a very few hands. 

2. The vast majority of the people live in hopeless poverty. 

3. They are badly housed. 

4. The government and the courts, and even the church, are 
thoroughly corrupt under the influence of the monopolists. 

5. The great business of the country is conducted by fraud, stocks 
are watered, foods are adulterated, railroads are dishonestly managed. 

6. The competitive system is of necessity extremely wasteful, and 
leads 

7. To a very large percentage of commercial failures. 

8. The public schools of the United States are inefficient. 

9. Panics are very common. 

10. Crime, insanity and suicides characterize our age. 

11. Social vice is a natural outgrowth of our present system. 

12. The extent of divorce makes marriage a failure. 

13. Immigration is encouraged to make more helpless the cause of 
the workingman. 



340 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

14. The war spirit is inculated in our public schools. Vast sums 
of money are paid for old wars and the preparation for new ones. 

In one word, our entire civilization is hopelessly corrupt because of 
the presence of capital in private hands. 

I believe that good sense will permit us to admit that most of the 
facts given by the Socialists are well founded, but will also lead us 
to absolutely deny the conclusions of the Socialists, and that, too, 
without endeavoring to cover the Socialists with opprobrium or 
ridicule. 

The proverb that what is every man's business is no man's business 
is very old and very true and very strong, and applies with fatal 
force to the doctrine of the Co-operative Commonwealth. Of 
course, the Socialists tell us that under the Socialistic regime there 
will be no such thing as a wage system, and that the workers would 
share in the common profits of industry, and the gain thereby would 
be so vast that it would more than offset the present spur of private 
initiative. But the absurdity of this is manifest, as soon as one 
attempts to concretely plan the details of such a system. When all 
governments and all corporations, as we now know them, are abolished 
what will supply their place? Can the world get on without govern- 
ment? Who will take the lead in industry? Who will do the dirty 
work? Who will do the easy work? Who will do the manual work? 
Who will do the brain work? Who will divide the products? If 
evenly, where is the justice of such a plan? Will he who is conscious 
of having done a superior service be satisfied with an ordinary share? 
Would those that do as little as they possibly can under present cir- 
cumstances glow with zeal under Socialism, which appears to guar- 
antee a livelihood for all men? 

Ah, but they say, remove monopoly, remove private capitalism, 
and all these evils that we complain of, the bad houses, the bad 
sanitation, the miserable wages, the political corruption, the dis- 
honesty in commercial life, the failure of business, the illiteracy 
among the people, panics, crime, suicidal insanity, vice and the 
divorce evil, unwholesome immigration, the throttling of the press, 
and wars will disappear. 

Good Brother Socialist, I pray you, remove your pink spectacles, 
and study human nature. The attempt to state anything like a 
thorough-going system of Socialism in practical operation reveals its 
absurdity. It is not possible to establish such an economic and social 
system. 

Is the organized movement known as International Socialism, 
then, without danger? On the contrary, the dangers from it are 
very great and very real. It draws under its banners all those who 
are dissatisfied with present conditions; and, through great skill and 
leadership, through large numbers and most skilful poUtical organiza- 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 341 

tion, there is the possibility of exceedingly great harm. It is possible 
for the Socialists to gain control of the legislative bodies of the world. 
It is possible for them to establish a regime which they would call 
Socialistic, which would tend to break down the safeguards of civili- 
zation, which I have enumerated. To overthrow the legal safe- 
guards and the social checks and balances which now make progress 
possible, it would be quite possible for the Socialists, unless checked, 
to plunge the world into a species of despotism such as it has never 
seen before. 

Secondly, the atheistic propaganda of the Socialists is likewise a 
serious menace, for all history shows that men have progressed only 
as they have developed in spiritual power and character; and, as for 
the third point, touching the abolition of marriage, Socialism tends 
to break down the moral safeguards which are never too strong in a 
complex society, and would tend to bestialize the human race. Con- 
ditions in which men would have no belief in God, in which the 
relations of the sexes would be promiscuous, would not be a paradise 
on earth but a miry bog which would mean decadence, decay, and 
death. 

But I believe that the human race is altogether too sturdy and too 
virile to fall ino the bottomless bog of Socialism. 

We may all grant that many of the Socialists and the Industrial 
Workers of the World are sincere and earnest ; but how can the latter, 
for example, be helpful in adjusting the delicate and difficult questions 
of human association, when they insist, first of all, that the working 
class and the employing class have nothing in common, and that 
they must fight until the one class has completely destroyed the 
other? I am well aware that there is a movement called Christian 
Socialism, but it is not necessary to discuss that movement in this 
connection. It is difficult to believe that the Christian Socialists 
are not visionary and misguided, and any International Socialist who 
speaks his mind freely will acknowledge his contempt for them. 

Little attention need be paid to the Socialistic communities that 
have been established in the United States and elsewhere, for they 
are of little consequence; and, as they have always been failures, 
they add nothing to the force of the Socialistic argument. Much is 
said about New Zealand as proving the Socialistic position. How 
absurd ! New Zealand is not a Socialistic state, nor anything like it. 
Fortunate in climate, in soil, and in population, and in the guidance 
of skilful labor leaders, much true progress is being made. The 
Socialist movement has had practically nothing to do with industrial 
advance in New Zealand. 

As regards Anarchism — its doctrines and remedies need occupy us 
but very briefly. As far as it is constructive, it rests on voluntary 
co-operation. No sensible person, who has ever undertaken any 



342 JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 

serious practical work, will believe for one moment that voluntary 
co-operation can accomplish the work of this fierce and selfish old 
world. 

One of the best proofs of the mildness and tolerance of our present 
capitalistic system — such as it is — and of the fact it has within it the 
seeds of progress, lies in the fact that the Socialist movement itself 
has been enabled to reach its present position of power. When, in 
former times, would it have been possible for men, whose avowed 
object was the overturn of government, to be allowed to work their 
way into national councils and lay their plans before the whole world? 
Time was when their heads would have been stuck on pikes and 
adorned the gates of cities. Good proof it is that we today rely upon 
reason and upon justice in dealing with all men, even with those who 
come to us with words of treason upon their lips. 

Now then, what have we to say as to the real remedy for the evils 
from which we suffer? Excessive monopoly, corruption in govern- 
ment, corruption in business, frequent injustice in wages, and in 
hours of work; the problems of immigration, of disease, of suicide, 
of insanity, and divorce — what shall be our remedies and solutions? 

Let us take New Zealand as an example. Co-operation is there 
the watchword, — not co-operation that looks to the destruction of 
private initiative, or of private capital, but that which looks to com- 
mon action, wherever common action is possible; which looks to the 
spirit of brotherhood to produce that mutual understanding whereby 
individuals, with all their selfishness, may be led to subordinate 
something of their personal gain to the general good. Every one of 
the difficulties from which we now suffer has a definite, practical 
remedy; but its solution, its application, will depend upon the spirit 
of Christ in the hearts and minds of men. " Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, 
with all thy minds, and thy neighbor as thyself." No materialistic 
conception, no atheistic conception, can possibly lead to this. Not by 
breaking down the springs of spiritual life will men help to cure 
diseases, — be fair and honorable in their dealings, and have a sense 
of duty in their social and public life, but through reverent following 
of the spirit of the Creator. 

The spirit of religion is the executive spirit of mankind. It is the 
inspiration which leads to power, as well as to the purification of 
conduct. It is just as true in the lower forms as in the higher forms. 
The spirit of human progress among the nations is merely a recital of 
religious history. When the Greeks and Romans were vitalized by a 
belief in their gods, all that was valuable in their civilization was 
developed. When the Egyptian was true to his deities, he built the 
pyramids. When the Puritan had a burning faith in the presence of 
the living God, he established his home in the wilderness in the New 



JAMES MAHONEY MEMORIAL 343 

World and laid the foundations of the United States. When the 
Catholic's belief was vital in the Middle Ages, he built the cathedrals, 
he painted immortal pictures, he built the hospitals; and, braving 
all dangers, the Catholic missionary bore the cross to the savage, 
seeking to bring all men into unity of fellowship and into the spirit of 
Christ. 

Not to the Socialist, then, or to the Anarchist, but to such doctrine 
as that of the grand old Pope, Leo XIII, in his Encyclical on "The 
Condition of Labor," should we look for a just solution of our social 
and industrial difficulties. In this he maintains that private property 
is necessary to safeguard not only our institutions, but even the dig- 
nity and sanity of man, the permanence of the home, the virility of 
the human stock, and conditions favorable to the worship of God. 

On this doctrine of the great Leo we believe that all should unite — 
Protestant arid Catholic, right-thinking Jews and Gentiles. We 
should unite against the Socialist for the sanctity of the home, eco- 
nomic and legal justice between man and man, the maintenance of 
law and order, — those divine ties that bind humanity to the All Wise 
Ruler of the universe. 



' Strike for your altars and your fires, 
God and your native land! " 



CHAPTER XIII 

Dorchester Heights 

words and music written by 
James Mahoney 

1908 



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